A preliminary note on the incidence of Newcastle Disease in the Congo Republic

Abstract

Outbreaks of Newcastle Disease in flocks of poultry belonging to Africans have been suspected for a long time, but definite diagnosis has not previously been made. On five occasions recently the virus of this infection has been isolated from moribund specimens showing typical clinical symptoms of this disease. Further a serological survey has shown that 34% of the poultry sera examined have shown a significant titer of antibody of this infection and in the African owned back-yard flocks of Brazzaville the ratio proved to be as high as 68.1%. By comparison a small unvaccinated flock in the same region owned by a European and kept under good conditions and strict isolation did not indicate any contamination.