Seroprevalence Study of Newcastle Disease in Local Chickens in Central Ethiopia

A study of Newcastle disease (NCD) seroprevalence rates in local scavenging chickens in central Ethiopia was conducted on 180 chickens raised under a traditional management system in three selected agricultural-climatic zones. The study revealed the occurrence of high rates of NCD virus antibodies in local chickens in all three agricultural-climatic zones. Hemagglutination inhibition test was used to analyze 180 chicken sera for NCD virus antibodies, yielding an overall seropositive rate of 32.22% (58 chickens). Seroprevalence rates for NCD were 28.57%, 29.69%, and 38.33% in the high, mid-range, and low altitudes, respectively. This study has shown that NCD is one of the major infectious diseases threatening the survival and productivity of traditionally managed local Intern J Appl Res Vet Med • Vol. 3, No. 1, 2005 *Armauer Hansen Research Institute Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Addis Ababa University Debre Zeit, Ethiopia National Veterinary Institute Debre Zeit, Ethiopia *Dr. Aschalew is now with the University of Zurich, Institute of Animal Science, ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Dr. Tadesse is now with the Institute for Microbiology, Albert-Ludwig University,