A preliminary study of the role of ducks in the transmission of Newcastle disease virus to in-contact rural free-range chickens

The role of ducks in the transmission of Newcastle disease virus (NDV) to free-range village chicken was investigated experimentally. Newcastle disease (ND) seronegative ducklings reared in a pen were infected oronasally with velogenic NDV of intracerebral pathogenicity index (ICPI) 1.8 isolated from outbreaks in village chickens in Uganda. A first group of 3-week-old ND seronegative chicks was mixed with the ducks and they were kept together for 7 days. Both ducks and chicks were observed for ND clinical signs and any mortality, and they were bled and their sera were tested for ND antibodies by haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. The chicks were removed, euthanized and examined for any ND lesions, while the ducks were transferred to a fresh pen and a second group of chicks was introduced and observed and treated as above. The ducks and the chicks tested positive for ND antibodies 7 days post infection and contact, respectively, but showed no clinical signs, post-mortem lesions or mortality. The mean ND antibody titre of the second group of chicks was lower than for the first group. This study has shown that although ducks can be infected with velogenic NDV, they do not show clinical signs but are able to transmit NDV to in-contact chicks. Further investigations are needed of the lack of clinical signs in the in-contact chicks and how long the ducks remain infective.