A first trail of isolation, identification and characterization of Newcastle disease virus
(NDV) field strains was reported in two captivated falcons(Falcoperegrinusperegrinus)
in Qatar.Virus cultivation in specific pathogen free (SPF) embryonating chicken eggs
(ECE),haemagglutination (HA), haemagglutination inhibition (HI) and mean death time
(MDT)used in the investigation to reveal virus identity and pathogenicity. Both NDV
isolates were found to be velogenic strains. Real time reverse transcriptase polymerase
chain reaction (rRT-PCR) used as a confirmatory technique, successfully amplified and
detected cDNA fragments corresponding to the NDV RNA extracted from amnioallantoic
fluids (AAF). Sequence analysis and phylogensis of the NDVQF13 strain using 150bp
primer sets revealed 112R-R-Q-K-R-F117 amino acid motif confirming velogenicity of the
strain and its relation to genotype group VII, respectively. NDVQF13 failed qualification
for sequence and phylogentic analysis using the same primers.