Comparison between a live and an inactivated vaccine against Newcastle disease in village chickens. A field study in northern Malawi.

A total of 156 chickens in two villages in Malawi were marked and sampled. One hundred and fifteen of these were vaccinated against Newcastle disease immediately after blood sampling, using the V4 heat-resistant strain applied by eye-drop in one village and the inactivated Newcavac vaccine in the other village. A second blood sample was collected 4 weeks after vaccination. The samples were examined using an indirect ELISA test kit. The titre group median ranged from 2 to 3 before vaccination. Both vaccines led to a positive immune response. Newcavac induced higher and more homogeneous titres compared with the V4 vaccine. There was also an increase in the median of the control group where V4 live vaccine had been applied. The differences between the median titres induced by V4, Newcavac and controls were statistically significant.