In vitro Antiviral Activity of Eucheuma cottonii against New Castle Disease Virus

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Aims: To determine the antiviral activity of Eucheuma cottonii against the New Castle disease virus. Study Design: In vitro study. Place and Duration of the Study: The research was conducted in the Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Drug Design, and Pharmacognosy department at St. John’s University of Tanzania and Virology Laboratory at Sokoine University of Agriculture between April 2022 and August 2022. Methodology: The present study used an OVO assay and hemagglutination test to investigate the In vitro antiviral activity of E. cottonii collected from Zanzibar, Tanzania, against the Newcastle disease virus (NDV). Ovo assay was assessed using 60 embryonated eggs and a hemagglutination test was performed by collecting the allantoic fluid from treated eggs and serum from hatched chicks to detect antigen titer against NDV using 96 well plate diffusion method. Results: Results of the Ovo assay showed that all the 40 embryonated eggs used as test group were alive and thus confirmed that the extract of E. cottonii (0.32 g/mL) is strong enough to destroy the virus. In which the results from the serial dilution assay (hemagglutination test) confirmed a substantial decrease in the high level of NDV as observed in the allantoic fluid of the infected embryonated eggs to range from 10^-3 to 10^-8 serial dilutions. Conclusion: The OVO assay and hemagglutination results indicate that E. cottonii possesses antiviral activity against NDV. Still further studies like isolation and characterization of bioactive compounds are needed to apply E. cottonii as an alternative source of therapy to fight against NDV.