NOTE: Information Resources on Newcastle
Disease in Birds may be viewed as individual chapters below, or
as one complete publication file newcastle.htm.
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Bibliography of Selected Citations
2002 | 2001 |
2000
| 1999 | 1998 |
1997
Current Research Information System Records
Web Sites
About the disease:
There are vaccines
available for many strains of Newcastle disease,
although, it is not unusual for new (exotic) very contagious and virulent disease
strains to break out somewhere around the world on a regular basis. Among the various strains of the Newcastle virus,
there are various levels of lethality. The most virulent (velogenic) strains
can cause rapid onset of disease and kill almost 100% of the infected birds.
There are naturally milder forms that are not as deadly (lentogenic). The virus can infect all species of birds--both
domesticated and wild bird populations. The impact of the disease even in mild forms
is a drastic reduction in the commercial production of eggs and broilers. For more information about the disease and its
effects, the reader is referred to the relevant artices on the topic in the
online version of the Merck Veterinary Manual (See the World Wide Web links
1-4 below). Newcastle disease
is a biosecurity threat to the US poultry industry as stopping the spread of the virus requires
a rapid response to stem the spread and limit economic losses due to the disease.
The 2002-2003 epidemic of END in the US:
An outbreak
of a virulent form of the disease has broken out in the US in the state of California. A sick chicken from a
backyard flock appears to be the means of entry into California poultry flocks. When the
bird exhibited signs of illness, it was taken, on September 25, 2002, to a private
veterinary practioner in Torrence, CA. The
bird was found to have a very pathogenic strain (velogenic) of the exotic Newcastle disease (END). This bird or “index case” is considered to be the
carrier of the very infectous and pathogenic virus that spread quickly into
backyard poultry then moved from there into poultry production facilities in
Southern California. This is the first time since the 1971-73 outbreak
of END that the disease has been of epidemic proportions in California. The main methods of transmission
of the disease from one location to another seem to have been via bird to bird
contact, human activities, insects, rodents, cages, machinery equipment and
infected eggs. It then spread to other
areas of the state. Since this exotic
strain of Newcastle disease was first identified, millions of birds have been sacrificed
in California and as of May 2003, it has not been contained by depopulation
and quarantine. At the time of publication,
commercial flocks and back yard flocks in seven counties in California have been affected. Additional areas of the state are under quarantine.
The disease had spread to adjacent states of
Nevada, Arizona but
the outbreak there seems to be under control through the use of depopulation
and quarantine by government response teams.
An outbreak
of the virus had been detected in Texas, in
May of 2003. DNA sequencing analysis
confirmed that the Texas strain was caused by a separate introduction of the disease and
not due by movement from affected areas in California, Nevada or Arizona. Intense surveillance, and early detection in El Paso County, seems to have contained and eliminated the disease in Texas.
It was with
the current epidemic in the US and the possibility of such epidemics emerging in other places
in the world that this resource was developed.
It is not comprehensive as the focus of the document is mainly the US. The bibliographic information
highlights the recent research that has been published on the disease.
Topics include information about the disease process, susceptible species
of birds, genetics, prevention and control measures, vaccination, vaccines,
etc. There are also relevant USDA sponsored research
and informative and credible websites listed.
References:
1) http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/203800.htm&word=newcastle%2cdisease
2) http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/170312.htm&word=newcastle%2cdisease
3)
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/201901.htm&word=newcastle%2cdisease
4) http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/201902.htm
ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
The bibliographic
information currently in this document is from the AGRICOLA database.
The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) sponsored research listed was
obtained from the USDA’s CRIS database http://cris.csrees.usda.gov which lists
current research funded by USDA both within the Department and universities.
The time span is from 2002 back to 1998. Note
that this is a dynamic document and there may be additions and other changes
to this resource.
Information
on how to request materials that are included in the collection of the
National Agricultural Library (NAL) may be found on the Collection Services website at
http://www.nal.usda.gov/services/request.shtml. Please read carefully as there are certain
restrictions on media and
document types.
If the reader
is aware of important science-based information that needs to be added to this
document, please feel free to contact the author at jlarson@nal.usda.gov.
The Animal Welfare Information Center,
http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/contact.php
http://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/pubs/newcastle/newcastle2.htm
Updated July 7, 2004
