BELTSVILLE, Md. — Newcastle disease (ND), which can be deadly for domestic and commercial poultry as well as wild bird populations, is a major concern worldwide for the poultry industry. Newcastle disease virus (NDV), which typically affects the respiratory, gastrointestinal and/or nervous system, causes disease in more than 250 species of birds.
Symptoms of ND can include coughing, gasping, diarrhea, lack of appetite and drooping wings. Severe cases can result in mortality rates that exceed 90 percent in susceptible chickens. To complicate matters, a quick diagnosis of an ND outbreak may be difficult because it can be confused with a. . .