Occurrence of newcastle disease in backyard poultry: A pathomorphological study

Newcastle or Ranikhet disease (NCD/RD) in poultry is an important viral infection caused by Avulavirus. This horrendous infection in poultry birds is responsible to cause economic losses to the poultry industry or farmers in terms of huge mortality. The various pathotypes associated with Newcastle or Ranikhet disease are attributed to the multiple organ involvement in poultry birds. The present investigation has reflected the evidence of severe respiratory, digestive and nervous form of the disease and has led to a huge mortality among backyard poultry. The clinical manifestations addressed in the present study includes dyspnoea, ataxia, anorexia, weight loss and greenish diarrhoea in the affected birds. The gross examination of the birds necropsied have shown lesions in the digestive tract including haemorrhages in the tips of proventricular glands, haemorrhages in the entire intestinal tract including caeca tonsils, ulcerative lesions in the Peyer’s patches coupled with lesions in the lungs, liver and brain tissues. The histological evaluation of different organs has elucidated the presence of haemorrhages, necrosis, and degenerative changes in association with mononuclear cells (MNCs) infiltration. The clinical outcomes, gross and subsequent microscopic lesions recorded in the affected birds altogether support the present outbreak in birds due to Newcastle or Ranikhet disease with multi-systemic involvement.