Epidemiological implication of newcastle disease virus in local chickens at live bird markets in jos, Nigeria

We investigated local chicken at sale points for antibodies against Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) in some live bird markets in Plateau State, Nigeria. Our aim was to determine the degree of endemicity of NDV in the target population and to evaluate the attendant epidemiological implication. A total of 300 samples were collected from two markets. Standard method for Haemagglutination Inhibition (HI) test was adopted for screening the samples. Results showed that 245 (81.5%) of the samples tested positive for the agent. The distribution of antibodies (log2) showed that 4 samples (1.5%) had a titre of 1, 8 samples (2.5%) had a titre of 2, 15 samples (5.1%) had a titre of 3, 28 samples (9.3%) had a titre of 4, 42 samples (13.8%) had a titre of 5, while 42 samples (14.2%) had a titre of 6, 48 samples (16%) had a titre of 7 which was the second most frequently encountered titre, 57 samples (19%) had a titre of 8, which was the most frequently encountered titre 35 samples (11.7%) had a titre of 9, while the highest titre obtained was 10, in (6.8%) samples. Overall HI (log2) in all samples collected ranged from1-10. The highest positive sample was observed in Bukuru with 124 (82%) positive while for Jos 120 (80%) was positive. The result obtained was subjected to statistical analysis using statistical package for social science (SPSS version 16) for statistical difference at 95% confidence interval and there was no significant difference in the percentage of the two sites.