SEROLOGICAL EVIDENCE OF AVIAN PARAMYXOVIRUS-2 INFECTION IN BACKYARD AND COMMERCIAL POULTRY BIRDS IN SAUDI ARABIA

Serological survey was conducted to detect avian paramyxovirus serotype-2 (apmv-2) antibodies in commercial and backyard bird flocks, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa) andhaemagglutination inhibition (hi) test. sera were collected from 212 commercial and 56 backyard birds. age of commercial birds ranged from one-day old to 62 weeks. in the backyard birds, seroprevalence of apvm-2 was 71.42 and 78.57%, whereas this seroprevalence was 52.35 and 60.84% using the hi test and the elisa, respectively in commercial poultry birds. no antibodies against apmv-2 were detected in 1-5 days old chicks with either test. the hi test showed the highest positive samples (p<0.05) of apmv-2 in 19-35 days age group (58.33%), followed by age group 11-18 weeks (51.35%) and 25-62 weeks (47.05%). similarly, elisa also showed the highest positive samples of apmv-2 (68.75%) in 19-35 days age group (p<0.05), followed by age group 11-18 weeks (62.16%) and 25-62 weeks (56.86%). in conclusion, this study indicated the presence of antibodies to apmv-2 among backyard and commercial poultry birds in saudi arabia.