Newcastle disease virus: Insights into molecular epidemiology, dynamics of distribution and diagnostics

The Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is the etiological agent of a highly transmissible avian disease, first recognized in 1926. The virus continues to pose a substantial threat to both commercial and domestic poultry farming globally, causing major outbreaks with high mortality rates and resulting in considerable economic losses. Despite the widespread use of vaccines and other control measures outbreaks persist. This is linked to the NDV significant genetic variability, its capacity to evolve under selective pressure and its wide range of natural hosts, with diverse virus variants continuing to circulate globally in both domestic and wild birds. Wild synanthropic and migratory birds play an important role in maintaining the virus and transmitting it across regions and continents. Summarized monitoring data from different countries evidences global picture of up-to-date virus distribution and changes in the different virus variant composition from 2017-2026. Some commonly used tests may miss newly emerging variants, and diagnostic procedures thus have to be regularly modified.