October 18, 2007

Flies may transmit Newcastle disease between poultry

Laboratory testing at the University of California, Riverside showed that flies can carry the Newcastle disease, potentially making it a strong suspect in spreading the virus from chicken to chicken, according to laboratory testing by the University of California, Riverside.

Flies exposed to a food source infected with exotic Newcastle disease (END) can pick up the virus and carry it for several days, perhaps later passing it on to chickens that eat the food, according to Alec Gerry, UC Riverside assistant veterinary entomologist.

END is a contagious and fatal viral disease affecting the respiratory, nervous and digestive systems of poultry and other birds.

In 2002 and 2003, an END outbreak in California resulted in the quarantine of nearly 20,000 buildings, the destruction of 3.2 million birds, costing the state US$170 million.

UC Riverside postdoctoral associate Seemanti Chakrabarti found that flies routinely contract infectious END virus at locations where chickens are also infected.

The flies could contract the virus when they land or feed on poultry manure containing the virus.

As flies could be transmitters of the disease, fly control should be an important part of a biosecurity programme at all poultry operations, he said.