Molecular Identification of Newcastle Disease Virus from Free Living Birds

Newcastle disease (ND) is one of the major viral diseases of poultry causing great economic losses to the poultry industry. A total of 63 cloacal swabs/droppings from various categories of free living birds (desi chicken, pigeon, turkeys, crows, sparrows, geese, parrots) were collected and inoculated into specific pathogen free embryonated chicken eggs for propagation of Newcastle disease virus (NDV). Four out of 63 cloacal swabs were positive for NDV by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for fusion protein cleavage site of NDV. It is concluded that free living birds may play an important role in the transmission of NDV to domestic chicken and strict farm biosecurity measures has to be adopted to minimize the effective contact between them.