Determination of Newcastle disease virus among wild bird populations in Lake Van basin, Turkey

In this study, 540 feces samples taken from a total of 22 bird species, including transit migrant, winter visitor, migratory, and resident bird species, in Lake Van basin were examined by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with respect to the Newcastle disease virus (NDV). All of the feces samples were cultured in specific pathogen-free embryonated chicken eggs (ECEs) for NDV isolation. The NDV isolates were analyzed for virulent fusion (F) protein by RT reverse transcription PCR (RRT-PCR). Of the 540 examined feces samples, 28 (5.18%) were found to be positive by RT-PCR. The same samples were cultured in ECEs and, of those, 9 (1.66%) were positive for NDV isolations. Of the isolates, 7 were obtained from the migrant waterfowls Phoenicopterus ruber, Anas clypeata, Aythya ferina, and Aythya fuligula and 2 were from the resident species Columba livia. The RRT-PCR F protein was determined in 1 isolate belonging to Aythya ferina; this strain was typed as mesogenic/velogenic avian paramyxovirus type 1 and the other 8 isolates as lentogenic. In this study, we investigated, for the first time, the presence of NDV in wild, seemingly healthy bird feces from areas in Lake Van basin, in Turkey.