RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Screening Avian Pathogens in Eggs from Commercial Hatcheries in Nepal- an Effective Poultry Disease Surveillance Tool
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2022.08.11.503567
DO 10.1101/2022.08.11.503567
A1 Sharma, Shreeya
A1 Dhital, Kavya
A1 Puri, Dhiraj
A1 Pradhan, Saman
A1 Rajbhandari, Udaya
A1 Basnet, Amit
A1 Ghaju, Sajani
A1 Manandhar, Prajwol
A1 Ghimire, Nabin U
A1 Shahi, Manoj K
A1 Poudel, Ajit
A1 Napit, Rajindra
A1 Karmacharya, Dibesh
YR 2022
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/08/12/2022.08.11.503567.abstract
AB Background Commercial hatcheries play an important role in the overall poultry value chain-providing small to large poultry farmers with day old chicks. Any outbreak in such hatcheries can spread diseases to other farms. Regular screening of major avian pathogens, along with strict bio-security measures, can prevent spread of diseases in hatcheries. Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV), Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV), Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG), Mycoplasma synoviae (MS), Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV) and Influenza A Virus (IAV) are among the most prevalent poultry diseases which can be detected in egg albumin.Method We retrospectively (August 2020-August 2021, except October 2020) analyzed diagnostic results for six selected avian pathogens (NDV, IBV, MS, MG, IBDV and IAV) on eggs (n=4343) received from eleven major commercial poultry hatcheries located in the five adjoining districts of Kathmandu, Nepal. Albumin from 10% randomly selected eggs from each hatchery were tested for the six avian pathogens using multiplex PCR.Result Majority (7/11, 64%) of the poultry hatcheries had at least one of the six pathogens present. We detected at least one avian pathogen in nine out of eleven months (82%) of screening. Except for IBDV, we found one or more of the other major avian pathogens-Influenza A (IAV) (n=4 times) and Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) (n=4 times) were detected the most, followed by Newcastle Virus (NDV) (n=3 times). Infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) were detected twice, and Mycoplasma synoviae (MS) was detected once.Conclusion In a resource strapped country like Nepal, poultry disease outbreak investigation in particular and surveillance in general are challenging. Meanwhile, poultry production is highly impacted by disease outbreaks often triggered by poor bio-security and lack of pathogen screening practices. Our molecular screening tests have picked up major poultry pathogens present throughout the year in eggs collected from hatcheries. Influenza A was detected at 4 different incidences throughout the year, which is of concern to both human and animal health. Quick systematic screening of eggs at key distribution points (hatcheries) for major avian pathogens is an effective surveillance tool for early disease detection and containment of outbreaks.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.