PARTICIPATORY EPIDEMIOLOGY AND SEROPREVALENCE OF NEWCASTLE DISEASE IN LOCAL CHICKENS IN THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJANIGERIA
PARTICIPATORY EPIDEMIOLOGY AND SEROPREVALENCE OF NEWCASTLE DISEASE IN LOCAL CHICKENS IN THE FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY, ABUJANIGERIA
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Date
2013-05
Authors
ANZAKU, SAMUEL AKAWU
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Abstract
Newcastle Disease (ND) constitutes an impediment to poultry production and health with increasing
number of cases reported yearly by private veterinarians in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in
commercial farms, but the epidemiological status of the disease in local chickens is unknown and
outbreaks are usually not reported. The objectives of the study were to determine the importance of
poultry in relation to other livestock, the importance of ND in relation to other poultry diseases, the
presence and levels of antibodies to ND and management constraints of rural chickens. The study
was carried out between April and June, 2012. Semi-structured interviews (SSIs), proportional
piling, ranking, matrix scoring, seasonal calendar, mapping and transect walk were used on 40
informant groups in 40 purposively selected villages of the FCT to determine the perception of
poultry owners on the clinical signs of ND in local chickens. In addition, 400 serum samples
collected from local chickens in the villages were screened for ND virus antibodies using
haemagglutination inhibition test (HI) and information on husbandry and management practices
was obtained from 400 selected rural poultry owners using a structured questionnaire. The
participatory epidemiology (PE) data were subjected to descriptive statistics and Kendall’s
coefficient of concordance (W) was calculated to determine the level of agreement between the
informant groups. Also, HI test results and information on husbandry and production constraints
were subjected to descriptive statistics. Poultry constituted the largest population of livestock kept
and ND ranked first among the five most important poultry diseases with the predominant clinical
signs of high mortality, diarrhoea, nervous signs and dyspnoea. Newcastle disease outbreaks occur
mostly from October to March and traditional remedies used for treatment include red pepper
(Capsicum frutenscens) and gauta kaji (Solanum nodiflorum). There were good agreements based
on Kendall’s coefficients of concordance (W) between informant groups on the clinical signs,
priority poultry diseases and livestock population. The estimated mean morbidity and case fatality
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rates of ND were 71.38% and 74.5%, respectively. About 57% (228) of local chickens had
antibodies to NDV. Also, information obtained from respondents indicated that local chickens
constitute 77% of poultry kept and 43.5% of farmers housed their chickens at night, The major
sources of breeding stock were live bird markets (62%), about 69.75% provided supplementary
feeding, 51.75% kept poultry purposely for sale; 55% employed local treatment for diseases while
only 26.5% sought conventional veterinary treatments. Veterinary services were unavailable to 58%
of respondents and the major methods of disposal of dead birds were the use of refuse dump
(48.75%) and dug pit (38.25%). It was concluded that local chickens constitute majority of poultry
kept in the FCT, ND is wide spread and PE can be used to improve ND surveillance. Also, the
prevalence of ND obtained indicated a low immunity against ND hence routine vaccination against
ND in local chickens in the FCT is hereby recommended.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU
BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, NIGERIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE
AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN VETERINARY PUBLIC
HEALTH AND PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
DEPARTMENT OF VETERINARY PUBLIC HEALTH AND PREVENTIVE MEDICINE,
FACULTY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIANIGERIA
Keywords
PARTICIPATORY, EPIDEMIOLOGY, SEROPREVALENCE, NEWCASTLE, DISEASE, LOCAL, CHICKENS, FEDERAL, CAPITAL, TERRITORY, ABUJA, NIGERIA