Newcastle Disease Virus

Abstract

Newcastle disease (ND) is a highly contagious and often fatal disease of birds resulting from infection with the virulent strains of Newcastle disease virus (NDV). Since its first descriptions in the 1920s, ND has been responsible for drops in egg production and loss of stocks (up to 100%) in poultry farming industry through successive outbreaks. Given the nonspecific respiratory, gastrointestinal, and nervous symptoms it induces, the use of laboratory techniques such as reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is crucial for rapid and accurate identification, virulence determination, and epidemiological tracking of this deadly pathogen.