Susceptibility of Japanese quails (Cortunix cortunix japonica) to experimental infection with Newcastle disease virus, Kudu 113 strain

Abstract

This study was carried out to determine the response of Japanese quails experimentally infected with Newcastle disease virus (NDV) kudu 113 strain using a haemagglutination inhibition test and the ability of the species to transmit the infection to chickens. The administration of kudu 113 strain of Newcastle disease virus (108.5 /ml) orally at 0.1ml/quail in the infected group (group B) resulted in an antibody response with a geometric mean titre of 23.79 on day 32 when compared to non-infected quails (group A) which did not show (p>0.05) evidence of Newcastle disease antibodies throughout the experiment and also differed significantly (p<0.05) from group B, indicating that oral inoculation of the virus was successful and the birds were infected. Clinical signs of ND were first observed in the quails 7 days post-infection (pi) with effects on egg production and egg quality. The transmission of the velogenic NDV from the quails (group B) to the sentinel chickens was clinically evident 4 days after they were placed in close contact with the infected quails. There was 100% mortality in the sentinel chickens between 4 to 7 days post contact. Thus, quails could serve as a potential source of ND for chickens.