~ 1418 ~ Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry 2018; 7(6): 1418-1419 E-ISSN: 2278-4136 P-ISSN: 2349-8234 JPP 2018; 7(6): 1418-1419 Received: 13-09-2018 Accepted: 15-10-2018 Arthanari Eswaran M Assistant Professor and Head, Veterinary University Training and Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Tamil Nadu, India Mekala P Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India Vadivoo VS Assistant Professor, Veterinary University Training and Research Centre, Tirupur, Tamil Nadu, India Sukumar K Professor and Head, Department of Veterinary Microbiology, Veterinary College and Research Institute, Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, India Correspondence Arthanari Eswaran M Assistant Professor and Head, Veterinary University Training and Research Centre, Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Tamil Nadu, India Incidence of Newcastle disease in desi chicken and its control through ethno veterinary medicines Arthanari Eswaran M, Mekala P, Vadivoo VS and Sukumar K Abstract Newcastle disease (ND) is an endemic, highly contagious and fatal virus disease of poultry which causes significant economic losses in India. Despite Newcastle disease vaccination the farmers frequently faces disease outbreaks. This paper describes diagnosis and control of Newcastle disease in desi chicken. Twelve cases of Newcastle disease outbreak were recorded in desi chicken farms in Tirupur District, Tamil Nadu. The disease was confirmed by heamagglutination inhibition test using known positive serum and was identified as virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV) by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction for fusion protein cleavage site of the virus. The affected birds were treated with ethno veterinary herbal medicine recommended by the Ethno Veterinary Herbal Research Centre for Poultry, Namakkal. Birds affected with Newcastle disease were treated orally with a ground mixture of Phyllanthus amarus, Cuminum cyminum seeds and Allium cepa pulp along with jaggery thrice a day for five days. Along with the above the birds were given water containing Cuminum cyminum-10g/liter for five days. Following the herbal treatment, all the affected birds recovered completely from Newcastle disease within 3-5 days. These findings showed that the ethno veterinary practices play an important role in the control of economically important poultry diseases in country chicken. Keywords: Newcastle disease, desi chicken, ethnoveterinary, control, treatmen0074 1. Introduction In animal husbandry and agriculture, Poultry sector is one of the most organized and well developed sectors. Poultry has been maintained in the rural backyard of the most houses since ages. Backyard desi chickens play a vital role in the livelihood strategies of many poor rural and urban households. Due to commercialization of desi fowl farming in developing countries like India, the incidence of infectious diseases like Newcastle disease and fowl pox is increasing. Newcastle disease is a highly contagious and highly fatal disease of domestic chickens and many other wild avian species. Affected birds show greenish diarrhea, respiratory distress and nervous signs, with mortality up to 100% (Alexander and Senne, 2008) [1] . Many desi chicken flocks are affected by Newcastle diseases even after vaccination, as backyard chickens are maintained as multiage group flocks in free range system. Recently awareness and demand for organic farm products has been increasing. Ethno veterinary medicine is an indigenous knowledge and practice based on locally available bio resources to treat diseases effectively. This paper describes about the treatment of Newcastle disease in backyard chicken using ethno veterinary medicine. 2. Materials and Methods Dead and Live ailing desi chickens were brought to Veterinary University Training and Research Centre, TANUVAS, Tirupur, Tamil Nadu for diagnosis and treatment. The details regarding history, age, flock size, number of birds infected and died, system of rearing were collected. The flock size varies from less than 10 birds to maximum of 200 numbers. The ailing birds were showing ruffled feathers, respiratory signs and greenish watery diarrhea. Postmortem examination of dead birds was carried out and specimens were collected for laboratory diagnosis. Specimens of Trachea and caecal tonsils were triturated and cleared by centrifugation and examined for Haemagglutination (HA) of 1% chicken erythrocytes. Further the heamagglutinating virus was identified as Newcastle disease virus by Haemagglutination inhibition test (HI) using ND antiserum. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT- PCR) for fusion protein cleavage site (FPCS) gene region of NDV was carried out as per the protocol described by Seal et al. (1995) [2] . Treatment for Newcastle disease (for 25 birds): Phyllanthus amarus - 100g of whole plant, Cuminum cyminum-25g of seeds and Allium cepa pulp-10 numbers were taken and ground along with jaggery in to a pasty consistency. The mixture was prepared freshly every day.