Village Poultry Farming and Newcastle Disease

High mortality rates among village chickens observed in Vatomandry led to suspicion of Newcastle disease. The objectives of this study are to determine the practices used in village poultry farming, the farmers' knowledge of Newcastle disease, and the circulation of the APMV-1 virus in the district. To this end, a cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 at 41 poultry farms spread across 11 municipalities in Vatomandry. The results showed that 92.68% of the farms lacked proper organization and inputs according to general poultry farming practices; 87.80% of poultry farmers did not follow biosecurity measures in the event of disease; and 70.73% fail to do so in the event of mortality. Twelve samples tested positive in virological testing, and the seroprevalence rate was 92.31%. Village-based poultry farming in Vatomandry is therefore highly susceptible to Newcastle disease, which is responsible for poultry mortality. However, investigations into other diseases similar to the one in this study are necessary to further reduce poultry losses.