Role of Pigeons in the Transmission of Avian Avulavirus (Newcastle Disease-Genotype VIId) to Chickens

Hany F Ellakany; Ahmed R Elbestawy; Hatem S Abd El-Hamid; Rasha E Zedan; Ahmed R Gado; Ayman E Taha; Mohamed A Soliman; Mohamed E Abd El-Hack; Ayman A Swelum; Islam M Saadeldin; Hani Ba-Awadh; Elsayed O S Hussein

doi:10.3390/ani9060338

Role of Pigeons in the Transmission of Avian Avulavirus (Newcastle Disease-Genotype VIId) to Chickens

Animals (Basel). 2019 Jun 10;9(6):338. doi: 10.3390/ani9060338.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Poultry and Fish Diseases Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Damanhour University, El-Beheira 22511, Egypt. ellakany_hany@vetmed.dmu.edu.eg.
² Poultry and Fish Diseases Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Damanhour University, El-Beheira 22511, Egypt. ahmed.elbestawy@vetmed.dmu.edu.eg.
³ Poultry and Fish Diseases Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Damanhour University, El-Beheira 22511, Egypt. drhatem_deltavet@yahoo.co.uk.
⁴ Poultry and Fish Diseases Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Damanhour University, El-Beheira 22511, Egypt. rashazedan1987@gmail.com.
⁵ Poultry and Fish Diseases Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Damanhour University, El-Beheira 22511, Egypt. ahmed.gado@vetmed.dmu.edu.eg.
⁶ Department of Animal Husbandry and Animal Wealth Development, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Alexandria University, El-Beheira, Rasheed, Edfina 22758, Egypt. Ayman.Taha@alexu.edu.eg.
⁷ Poultry Diseases Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Minia University, El-Minia 61519, Egypt. mohamed.soliman@gmail.com.
⁸ Department of Poultry, Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt. dr.mohamed.e.abdalhaq@gmail.com.
⁹ Department of Animal Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. aswelum@ksu.edu.sa.
¹⁰ Department of Theriogenology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt. aswelum@ksu.edu.sa.
¹¹ Department of Animal Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. isaadeldin@ksu.edu.sa.
¹² Department of physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig 44511, Egypt. isaadeldin@ksu.edu.sa.
¹³ Department of Animal Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. m.ezzat@zu.edu.eg.
¹⁴ Department of Animal Production, College of Food and Agriculture Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2460, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. shessin@ksu.edu.sa.

Abstract

Newcastle disease is an acute fatal disease of poultry. The aim of this study was to determine the dynamics of the transmission of avian avulavirus (velogenic viscerotropic Newcastle disease-genotype VIId) from either intramuscularly (IM)- or intranasally (IN) infected 8-week-old Egyptian Baladi pigeons in contact with commercial Arbor Acres broiler chickens (4 weeks of age). The mortality of IM infected chickens and pigeons was 10/10 for chickens and 8/15 for pigeons, while the mortality of IN infected chickens and pigeons was 7/10 for chickens and only 1/15 for pigeons. The concentration of viral shedding in the oropharynx was higher than that in the cloaca for both IN and IM infected pigeons. Pigeons infected IN continued shedding the virus from the oropharynx from the 4^th day post-infection (dpi) up to the 16^th dpi, while IM infected pigeons stopped oropharyngeal shedding at the 11^th dpi. Chickens in contact with infected pigeons developed severe respiratory, digestive and nervous signs. The mortality rates in chickens in contact with IM and IN infected pigeons were 2/5 and 3/5, respectively. Chickens in contact with IM infected pigeons showed higher viral shedding titres in both the oropharynx and cloaca than chickens in contact with pigeons infected IN. In conclusion, free-range pigeons are considered an efficient carrier and transmitter of NDV-VIId compared to commercial broiler chickens raised in open houses.

Keywords: NDV genotype VIId; broilers; cloacal; contact infection; oropharyngeal; pigeons; shedding.

Grants and funding

College of Food and Agriculture Sciences Research Center/The authors extended their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University for funding this work through College of Food and Agriculture Sciences Research Center.