Role of Maternally Derived Antibody in Newcastle Disease Vaccination

Newcastle disease affects different age group of birds despite vaccination from day old. In order to determine the influence of maternally derived antibody (MDA) on chicks in Newcastle disease (ND) vaccination, a total of 100 broiler chicks were divided into four equal groups, A, B, C and D. Different ND vaccination program was used for each of groups A, B, and C. Group D served as the control group. The Haemagglutination inhibition test, a widely used conventional serological method for measuring anti-NDV antibody levels in poultry sera, and considered the standard laboratory test for this disease, was used to determine the level of antibody titer to Newcastle disease. Birds in group B, vaccinated with Newcastle disease vaccine (HB1) at day 8 post hatch, had significant protective antibody titer of 23.42±10.59 compared to groups A, C and D with antibody titer of 1.71 ± 0.68, 4.33± 2.33 and 2.00± 0.63 respectively. This study suggested an effective vaccination schedule for broiler chicks with high level of Newcastle disease maternal antibody. It is thus recommended that chicks with MDA should not be vaccinated until after a week, when MDA would have waned significantly.