Efficacy of Feed Coated Newcastle Disease I2 Vaccine in Village Chicken

Newcastle disease has been reported by many authors as an endemic disease and the major cause of losses among village chickens in many developing countries of the world. Vaccination trials using several types of ND vaccines have been employed to reduce its mortality rate in Nigeria. Few village chicken farmers in Gombe State are aware of the existence of vaccines against endemic ND. This may be a result of inadequate awareness campaign and the challenges to maintain potency in rural areas where electricity supply is inadequate. The current vaccination procedure employed in the study has been successful in immunization of village chickens against ND. Post ¿ vaccination 90.8% of the sampled birds yield protective levels of antibodies against ND virus. The maize mash coated thermostable ND I¿ vaccination method induced the best vaccination when compared to the direct oral drench application of the vaccine. It is shown that the thermostable ND I¿ vaccine is potent for ND control and adaptable for use by rural farmers.