Newcastle disease virus in West Africa: new virulent strains identified in non-commercial farms

• Published in: Archives of virology 2009, Vol.154 (1), p.47-54
• Main Authors: Snoeck, Chantal J, Ducatez, Mariette F, Owoade, Ademola A, Faleke, Olufemi O, Alkali, Bello R, Tahita, Marc C, Tarnagda, Zekiba, Ouedraogo, Jean-Bosco, Maikano, Issoufou, Mbah, Patrick Okwen, Kremer, Jacques R, Muller, Claude P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Africa South of the Sahara - epidemiology; Agricultural sciences; Amino Acid Sequence; Animal biology; Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Chickens; Disease; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Genetic diversity; Infectious Diseases; Life Sciences; Medical Microbiology; Microbiology; Microbiology and Parasitology; Miscellaneous; Molecular Sequence Data; Newcastle Disease - virology; Newcastle disease virus; Newcastle disease virus - classification; Newcastle disease virus - genetics; Newcastle disease virus - isolation & purification; Newcastle disease virus - pathogenicity; Original Article; Phylogeny; Poultry; Poultry Diseases - virology; Proteins; Public health; RNA polymerase; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Veterinary medicine; Viral Fusion Proteins - genetics; Virology; Virulence; Viruses
• ISSN: 0304-8608; 1432-8798
• DOI: 10.1007/s00705-008-0269-5

Forty-four Newcastle disease virus (NDV) strains, obtained between 2002 and 2007 from different poultry species in Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso and Cameroon, were phylogenetically analysed based on partial F sequences. Lineage 2 viruses were genetically identical or similar to the locally used LaSota vaccine strain and were mostly detected in commercial farms. Lineage 1, 3 and 4 strains were only sporadically found, and their origin was less clear. Twenty-one strains from backyard farms and live bird markets formed three new clusters within lineage 5, tentatively named 5f, 5g and 5h. All of these strains were predicted to be virulent based on their F protein cleavage site sequence. Minimal genetic distances between new and previously established sublineages ranged from 9.4 to 15.9%, and minimal distances between the new sublineages were 11.5 to 17.3%. Their high genetic diversity and their presence in three different Sub-Saharan countries suggest that these new sublineages represent the NDV variants indigenous to West Africa.