Newcastle Disease: ‘No non-veg week’ called in Andhra Pradesh's Tanuku to keep infection at bay

Hyderabad, Feb 14: The deaths of thousands of chicken in the twin Godavari districts following an outbreak of the Very Virulent Newcastle Disease (VVND) are causing panic among poultry-farm owners and the general public alike.

In order to keep the infection at bay, a non-veg bandh has been called for in Tanuku town. There were also several rumours that are being spread in the neighbouring East Godavari district that eating chicken from a particular poultry farm could cause one to contract COVID-19.

In Tanuku, local MLA Karumuri Venkatanageswara Rao announced a 'no non-veg week' in the town, and said thousands of hens in poultry farms were succumbing to a virus.

"We are declaring a non-veg holiday for a week keeping in view the health of the people," he said.

More than 2,000 broiler chicken, reportedly died due to the Virulent Newcastle Disease (VND) virus, at Baduguvanilanka in Alamuru Mandal.

What is Newcastle Disease?

Newcastle disease is an a highly contagious viral infection of domestic poultry and other bird species with virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV).

It is a worldwide problem that presents primarily as an acute respiratory disease, but depression, nervous manifestations, or diarrhea may be the predominant clinical form.

This disease was named after a town in England where it was first seen. It is one of the most common respiratory diseases of poultry and occurs worldwide. The agent involved in the aetiology of this disease is a single-stranded, nonsegmented, enveloped, RNA virus belonging to paramyoviruses.

Prevention:

There is no treatment for Newcastle Disease, although treatment with antibiotics to control secondary infections may assist. Vaccines are available for chickens, turkeys, and pigeons and are used to induce an antibody response, so vaccinated bids must be exposed to a larger dose of vNDV to be infected.