SEROLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF AVIAN PARAMYXOVIRUS-2 INFECTION IN BACKYARD AND COMMERCIAL POULTRY BIRDS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Serological survey was conducted to detect avian paramyxovirus serotype-2 (APMV-2) antibodies in commercial and backyard bird flocks, using Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and haemagglutination inhibition (HI) test. Sera were collected from 212 commercial and 56 backyard birds. Age of commercial birds ranged from one-day old to 62 weeks. In the backyard birds, seroprevalence of APVM-2 was 71.42 and 78.57%, whereas this seroprevalence was 52.35 and 60.84% using the HI test and the ELISA, respectively in commercial poultry birds. No antibodies against APMV-2 were detected in 1-5 days old chicks with either test. The HI test showed the highest positive samples (P<0.05) of APMV-2 in 19-35 days age group (58.33%), followed by age group 11-18 weeks (51.35%) and 25-62 weeks (47.05%). Similarly, ELISA also showed the highest positive samples of APMV-2 (68.75%) in 19-35 days age group (P<0.05) followed by age group 11-18 weeks (62.16%) and 25-62 weeks (56.86%). In conclusion, this study indicated the presence of antibodies to APMV-2 among backyard and commercial poultry birds in Saudi Arabia