Newcastle Disease in Falcons in Saudi Arabia

摘要

Newcastle disease is an important disease affecting falcons in Saudi Arabia. Two distinct clinical presentations have been recognized, the neurotropic and the viscerotropic forms. Clinical signs associated with the 2 forms vary in type and severity. Adequate serologic response was observed for up to 9 months in a group of falcons following vaccination using a commercially available inactivated poultry vaccine. Newcastle disease (ND) is an infectious and highly contagious disease produced by avian paramyxovirus serotype 1 (APMV-1), a pleomorphic enveloped RNA virus of the family Paramyxoviridae.1 There are 9 recognized serotypes in this family.2 ND is known to affect at least 241 avian species belonging to 27 Orders.3 However, ND appears to produce severe and often fatal disease in some species, while producing only mild clinical signs in others.4 In the domestic fowl, APMV-1 strains have been classified according to the severity of the clinical signs, as viscerotropic velogenic, neurotropic velogenic, mesogenic, lentogenic, and asymptomatic enteric.1 In Saudi Arabia, ND is responsible for a relatively high mortality in falcon used for the sport of falconry. Falcons commonly acquire the disease directly through eating infected pigeons and quails, or indirectly by being housed in close proximity to infected birds or through fomites. This paper describes clinical and pathological findings associated with Newcastle diseases in falcons in Saudi Arabia and preliminary results of a vaccination trial using a commercially-available poultry inactivated vaccine.