ANTIBODIES TO NEWCASTLE AND INFECTIOUS BURSAL DISEASES IN CHICKS FROM SOME COMMERCIAL HATCHERIES IN NIGERIA
Authors/Creators
- 1. Department of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
- 2. Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria
Description
A survey was conducted to determine the presence of antibodies to Newcastle disease (ND) and infectious bursal disease (IBD) in chicks purchased from some commercial hatcheries in Nigeria. Sera were collected from 1 to 3 day-old chicks, selected at random from 32 batches of 20 chicks each from 12 commercial hatcheries. The presence of antibodies to ND and IBD were determined by haemagglutination inhibition (HI) and agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) techniques, respectively. Of the 640 sera assayed, 290 (45.3%) were positive for ND antibodies with a mean antibody titre of 4.6 ± 0.3 log2, while 139 (21.7%) were positive for antibodies to IBD. The results suggested that these chicks were not adequately equipped to withstand natural infection with ND and IBD viruses. It was recommended that hatcheries should vaccinate their breeder flocks against ND and IBD so that maternal antibodies may be transferred to chicks via the egg yolk, to protect them against the diseases during their early stages.