Adoption of pelleted Digitalia iburua grain as carrier for heat stable Newcastle disease vaccine virus for village poultry

The development of pelleted food–based vaccine against Newcastle disease (ND) using a thermostable NDVI2 strain in Acha (Digitalia iburua) is reported. The Acha cereal was subjected to rigorous processing of washing, soaking, boiling, roasting and grinding into fine powder prior to virus incorporation. The mixture which was passed through a locally fabricated pelleting machine resulted in fine pellets. The virus content in the pellets determined by inoculation of susceptible embryonated chicken eggs showed appreciable titres above 108 Egg Infective Dose 50% end points (EID50) per g of feed. These titres appear to be higher than the recommended minimum immunizing dose of 105.5 EID50 per ml of vaccine. Further in-vitro and in-vivo assessment of the pelleted vaccine is advocated. Key words: Pelleted, NDVI2, food vaccine, Digitalia iburua, high virus titres.