House Fly, Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) Acts as a Mechanical Vector for Newcastle Disease of Poultry in Faisalabad, Pakistan
House Fly, Musca domestica (Diptera: Muscidae) Acts as a Mechanical Vector for Newcastle Disease of Poultry in Faisalabad, Pakistan
Aqsa Fayyaz1, Muhammad Kashif Zahoor1*, Asma Ashraf2, Muhammad Asif Zahoor3, Azhar Rasul2, Humara Naz Majeed4, Muhammad Zulhussnain1, Kanwal Ranian1, Bushra Riaz1, Nazia Khalil1 and Attaullah1
ABSTRACT
Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is a highly contagious virus of domesticated (i.e. chickens, peacock, pet birds) and wild birds, which is excreted in the fecal material of infected birds. The house fly, Musca domestica L. can gain entry into the poultry flocks and will feed on poultry droppings and potentially serves as a mechanical vector for Newcastle disease. During the current study, houseflies were captured and examined for the presence of NDV. A total of 80 samples were collected from eight different poultry farms located around Faisalabad city with ten samples from each farm viz. Khurrianwala road, Shahkot road, Faisalabad road, Satyana road, Jhumra road, Nankana sahib road, Lahore road and Jaranwala road. Homogenate from house flies was first harvested in 11 day old embryonated chicken eggs to propagate the NDV, which was then titrated using haemagglutination inhibition assay for quantification of NDV. Polyclonal antibodies were produced in experimental rabbits followed by titration. These antibodies were then used to detect the presence of NDV. Sixteen samples were found positive (20%), 62 negative (77.5 %) and two unreactive (2.5 %) for NDV. All of the poultry farms around Faisalabad showed positive NDV (ranging from 1 to 4 samples). We conclud that house flies can play a role in the mechanical transmission of ND virus. Moreover, it is also suggested that positive poultry farms are likely to cause NDV infection to other farms in the vicinity due to the house fly flight range.
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