Impact and prevalence of Newcastle disease and associated risk factors in village chickens in southern Niger

The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of Newcastle disease and to identify potential risk factors in village chickens in Niger. A total of 1,627 serum samples were collected using a stratified random sampling method with proportional allocation. Samples were collected from village breedings in the departments of the Maradi region (Guidan Roumdji, Madarounfa, Aguié, Gazaoua, and Tessaoua), departments of Zinder region (Takeita, Kantché, Magaria, Dungass, and Mirriah), and cities of Maradi and Zinder. Data on risk factors were collected through an interview with the herders. All collected sera were subjected to competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA) to detect Newcastle disease virus-induced antibodies. The findings were indicative of 302 positive sera, representing an overall seroprevalence of 18.6%. The Student’s t-test at p<0.05 revealed a significant difference between regions and among some departments. Furthermore, the logistic regression test identified the agroecological zone, type of breeding, species mix, and the origin of the animals as risk factors associated with seropositivity to Newcastle disease virus. The present results confirmed the exposure of village chickens to the Newcastle disease virus, emphasizing the need to intensify vaccination campaigns and educate poultry farmers on adopting biosecurity measures.