Seroprevalence of Newcastle Disease, Chicken Infectious Anemia and Avian Influenza in Indigenous Chickens in Grenada, West Indies

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies against Newcastle disease virus (NDV), Chicken infectious anemia virus (CIAV) and Avian influenza virus (AIV) in indigenous chickens in Grenada, West Indies. Indigenous chickens are kept for eggs and meat for either domestic consumption or local sale. These birds are usually kept in the backyard of the house with little or no shelter. The mean size of the flock per household was 14 birds (range 5–40 birds). Blood was collected from 368 birds from all the six parishes of Grenada and serum samples were tested for antibodies against NDV, CIAV and AIV using commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. The seroprevalence of antibodies against NDV, AIV and CIA was 66.3% (95% CI; 61.5% to 71.1%), 59.5% (95% CI; 54.4% to 64.5%) and 10.3% (95% CI; 7.2% to 13.4%), respectively. Since indigenous chickens in Grenada are not vaccinated against poultry pathogens, these results indicate exposure of chickens to NDV, AIV and CIAV Indigenous chickens are thus among the risk factors acting as vectors of pathogens that can threaten commercial poultry and other avian species in Grenada