February 14, 2006

100,000 poultry in India die of Newcastle Disease

Nearly 100,000 laying birds, or egg-laying chickens, in the Indian state of Maharashtra are suspected to have died of Newcastle Disease (NCD) during the last few weeks.

Local health authorities have confirmed that NCD is the disease ravaging farms in the area of Navapur in India's third largest state.

Although the disease is common among laying birds during this time of the year, the high death rates are more alarming this year. There is no cause for panic as the disease is not transmitted to human beings and it is clearly on the wane, said a spokesman from the Navapur Poultry Farmers Association.

Experts have managed to bring the disease under control, according to the spokesman. There are nearly 1.2 million laying birds in about 60 farms around Navapur which supply eggs to various parts of Indian.  The casualty rate is 8 to 12 percent in various farms.

Experts from the Poultry Diseases Diagnosis & Research Institute have visited the affected poultry farms and confirmed the deaths were due to NCD. They have also requested for vaccines to be sent to the farms to control the disease.

Bird samples have been sent to Bhopal to determine whether any chicken died of bird flu. The disease generally affects 72-week and older birds with less immunity.