Diagnostic and Vaccination Approaches for Newcastle Disease Virus in Poultry: The Current and Emerging Perspectives

Abstract

Newcastle disease (ND) is one of the most devastating diseases that considerably cripple the global poultry industry. Because of its enormous socioeconomic importance and potential to rapidly spread to naïve birds in the vicinity, ND is included among the list of avian diseases that must be notified to the OIE immediately upon recognition. Currently, virus isolation followed by its serological or molecular identification is regarded as the gold standard method of ND diagnosis. However, this method is generally slow and requires specialised laboratory with biosafety containment facilities, making it of little relevance under epidemic situations where rapid diagnosis is seriously needed. Thus, molecular based diagnostics have evolved to overcome some of these difficulties, but the extensive genetic diversity of the virus ensures that isolates with mutations at the primer/probe binding sites escape detection using these assays. This diagnostic dilemma leads to the emergence of cutting-edge technologies such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) which have so far proven to be promising in terms of rapid, sensitive, and accurate recognition of virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV) isolates even in mixed infections. As regards disease control strategies, conventional ND vaccines have stood the test of time by demonstrating track record of protective efficacy in the last 60 years. However, these vaccines are unable to block the replication and shedding of most of the currently circulating phylogenetically divergent virulent NDV isolates. Hence, rationally designed vaccines targeting the prevailing genotypes, the so-called genotype-matched vaccines, are highly needed to overcome these vaccination related challenges. Among the recently evolving technologies for the development of genotype-matched vaccines, reverse genetics-based live attenuated vaccines obviously appeared to be the most promising candidates. In this review, a comprehensive description of the current and emerging trends in the detection, identification, and control of ND in poultry are provided. The strengths and weaknesses of each of those techniques are also emphasised.

Fenobody and RANbody-based sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect Newcastle disease virus

“…Newcastle disease causes a severe economic loss in the poultry industry worldwide due to the high costs of vaccinations and diagnostic laboratory investigations [39]. Among the assays for diagnosis and surveillance of the disease, the HA test, virus isolation by inoculating chicken embryo, sandwich ELISA, and immune colloidal gold strip are the most commonly methods used for detecting NDV particles in different samples [19,40]. Generally, these assays have some shortcomings, including cumbersome operation, lengthy operation time, high cost of production, and low sensitivity for widespread use.…”

Fenobody and RANbody-based sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect Newcastle disease virus

“…NDV is one of the most severe pathogenic diseases that has detrimentally affected poultry worldwide [18]. Currently, the hemagglutination (HA) test, hemagglutination inhibition (HI) test, and molecular identification after virus isolation are considered the gold standard methods for the diagnosis of NDV infection [19,20]. However, these methods are usually time-consuming and require a cumbersome operation [21].…”

Coding-complete genome sequencing suggests that Newcastle disease virus challenge strain Herts’33 (IVMP) may represent a distinct genotype

“…Newcastle disease virus (NDV) (species Avian orthoavulavirus 1) belongs to the genus Orthoavulavirus, family Paramyxoviridae, order Mononegavirales. The enveloped virion has a single-stranded, negative-sense RNA genome with a length of ~ 15.2 kb [1,2]. The viral genome is composed of six genes in the following order: 3'-NP-P-M-F-HN-L-5' (letters designate the nucleoprotein (NP), the phosphoprotein (P), the matrix protein (M), the fusion protein (F), the hemagglutinin-neuraminidase (HN) and the RNA polymerase (L).…”

“…NDV infection may affect a wide range of wild and domestic avian species, causing serious losses during the epizootics [2]. The disease is controlled by vaccination of poultry, typically using live attenuated strains [2,3].…”

“…NDV infection may affect a wide range of wild and domestic avian species, causing serious losses during the epizootics [2]. The disease is controlled by vaccination of poultry, typically using live attenuated strains [2,3]. For example, the viscerotropic Herts'33 strain was originally isolated from a field sample after an outbreak in 1933 in Hertfordshire (UK) and subsequently became an important strain for control and prevention of Newcastle disease (ND).…”