SEROPREVALENCE OF LOW PATHOGENIC AVIAN INFLUENZA (H9) IN SONALI CHICKENS OF JOYPURHAT

Abstract

The present study was designed to know the sero-prevalence status of H9 antibodies in sonali chickens at Joypurhat district in Bangladesh by initial screening of AIV type A by ELISA followed by H9 LPAI detection by HI test. 180 sera samples from 18 flocks were collected and screened for Avian Influenza Virus type A antibodies by ELISA. All ELISA positive samples were tested by HI test, specific for H9 antibodies. On ELISA, seroprevalence for AIV type A were 14.4% and 3.3% in older aged group (≥11 weeks) and growing aged group (≤10 weeks) respectively, with an overall sero-prevalence of 8.89% in Sonali chickens at Joypurhat district. Among, these AIV sero-positive samples, 92.31% of older aged group and 66.67 % of growing aged group chickens found sero-positive to H9 antibodies by HI test with an overall of 87.5%. Out of 180 sera samples, only 14 samples found positive to H9 antibodies, indicating 7.78% sero-prevalence in Sonali chickens of Joypurhat district. This study revealed higher sero-prevalence of AIV antibodies as well as H9 antibodies in older aged group which might be due long time exposure to infections. Sero-prevalence of both AIV type A and H9 LPAI are higher in older aged Sonali Chickens. The findings of the present study suggest that the Overall seroprevalence of AIV type A and H9 LPAI in Sonali Chickens are 8.89% and 7.78% respectively, at Joypurhat district in Bangladesh and also suggest that H9 LPAI virus are in circulation in Sonali chickens at Joypurhat District in Bangladesh.