Outreach Efforts to Prevent Newcastle Disease Outbreaks in Southern California

Abstract

In May 2018, an outbreak of virulent Newcastle disease (vND) affected backyard and commercial premises in Southern California. The re-occurrence of these outbreaks since the 1970s suggests that some poultry communities may not have reliable and stable resources available regarding biosecurity and disease prevention. Therefore, staff at the University of California, Davis (UCD) School of Veterinary Medicine (SVM), and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) began organizing educational events and learning more about the gamefowl breeder community through a needs assessment exercise, during which local feedstores and neighborhoods were also visited. Focus groups were organized with breeders in various cities within the regional quarantine area, established by the CDFA during the vND outbreak. The focus groups were aimed at creating open communication networks with gamefowl breeders in the affected area, as well as to learn about their current sources of information, learning preferences, and current management practices. With the input from gamefowl breeders, as well as funding and input from the CDFA and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a quality assurance program called the “Gamefowl Wellness Program” was established. Educational content was created and published through the UCD Gamefowl Wellness Program poultry health website. Additionally, with the help of the CDFA, the USDA, and pharmaceutical companies, Newcastle disease vaccines and training for their application were provided to feedstores with gamefowl breeder clientele. Nurturing trust with these poultry communities allowed us to receive the information needed to develop effective outreach strategies that could better serve them. Responding to community concerns might be a way to garner the trust necessary to prevent or at least promptly detect foreign animal disease outbreaks.

The Development of Novel Reverse Transcription Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Assays for the Detection and Differentiation of Virulent Newcastle Disease Virus

“…The WOAH classifies NDV as a list ‘A’ disease, and an outbreak of velogenic or mesogenic ND must be immediately reported to the WOAH, which may result in severe trade restrictions and a major economic burden for the global poultry industry [ 10 ]. Although intensive vaccination programs and biosecurity practices have been implemented for decades to limit spread of ND, viral outbreaks, especially those caused by sub-genotype VII.2 (VIIh and VIIi) strains, still sporadically occur in the Middle East, America, Europe, and Africa, in addition to Asian countries including China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia [ 1 , 5 , 8 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ].…”

Current Status of Poultry Recombinant Virus Vector Vaccine Development

“…According to the latest ICTV classification, NDV, also known as Orthoavulavirus javaense, is a member of the genus Orthoavulavirus in the subfamily Avulavirinae. Despite the increased implementation of vaccination strategies in numerous countries, outbreaks of ND still occur frequently [ 122 , 123 , 124 ]. Therefore, the prevention of NDV should continue to be a primary focus in the poultry industry.…”