According to the Animal Health and Welfare Alert Network (RASVE) of the Ministry of Agriculture, veterinary authorities in the Valencian Community have reported an outbreak of Newcastle disease in a layer hen farm located in the municipality of Terrateig, in the Vall d’Albaida region (Valencia province).
The farm is situated within a 10-kilometer radius of the outbreaks previously detected last December, for which all measures had already been lifted in February.
This is the sixth outbreak of Newcastle disease detected in Spain during the current season.
The suspicion of the disease arose from the detection of very low mortality in one of the farm’s 5 sheds (with an approximate census of 27,000 birds aged 23 weeks, the youngest on the farm), considered an independent epidemiological unit, so eradication measures are being applied exclusively to this shed.
Samples taken by the Official Veterinary Services (OVS) of the Generalitat Valenciana were sent to the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Algete, Spain’s National Reference Laboratory for Newcastle disease, where PCR confirmed the presence of a velogenic strain of the virus.
The Valencia OVS immediately adopted the following measures, as established in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2020/687:
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Immediate immobilization of the affected farm from the suspicion of the outbreak.
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Conducting an epidemiological investigation to identify the possible origin and farms at risk due to movements of people and vehicles.
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Performing sanitary depopulation of the affected farm and destruction of carcasses, feed, and other contaminated materials that could spread the virus in an authorized treatment facility.
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Establishment of a restriction zone around the outbreak. There are no commercial farms within a 3 km zone, and 21 commercial farms in the 3-10 km radius.
The farm was appropriately vaccinated against the disease, with 4 vaccine doses administered to the birds, which did not prevent the virus from entering one of the sheds.
Vaccination of the remaining sheds has kept them virus-free.
The origin of the infection is currently under investigation.
MAPA recommends sanitary prophylaxis measures, particularly the use of vaccines, as well as strengthening biosecurity measures in poultry farms, especially those aimed at preventing contact with wild birds, and enhancing passive surveillance in both poultry farms and wild birds, notifying official veterinary services of any disease suspicions.
