Current situation and future direction of Newcastle disease vaccines

Abstract

Newcastle disease (ND) is one of the most economically devastating infectious diseases affecting the poultry industry. Virulent Newcastle disease virus (NDV) can cause high mortality and severe tissue lesions in the respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological, reproductive and immune systems of poultry. Tremendous progress has been made in preventing morbidity and mortality caused by ND based on strict biosecurity and wide vaccine application. In recent decades, the continual evolution of NDV has resulted in a total of twenty genotypes, and genetic variation may be associated with disease outbreaks in vaccinated chickens. In some countries, the administration of genotype-matched novel vaccines in poultry successfully suppresses the circulation of virulent NDV strains in the field. However, virulent NDV is still endemic in many regions of the world, especially in low- and middle-income countries, impacting the livelihood of millions of people dependent on poultry for food. In ND-endemic countries, although vaccination is implemented for disease control, the lack of genotype-matched vaccines that can reduce virus infection and transmission as well as the inadequate administration of vaccines in the field undermines the effectiveness of vaccination. Dissection of the profiles of existing ND vaccines is fundamental for establishing proper vaccination regimes and developing next-generation vaccines. Therefore, in this article, we provide a broad review of commercial and experimental ND vaccines and promising new platforms for the development of next-generation vaccines.

Keywords: Newcastle disease virus; vaccine development; vaccine profiles; vaccines.

Figure 1

Schematic illustration of NDV particle and genome structure. A Illustration of the structure of NDV particles. HN, haemagglutinin-neuraminidase; F, fusion protein; M, matrix protein; RNP, ribonucleotide-protein complex. B Schematic representation of the structure of the NDV genome. The red arrow indicates the cleavage site of the F protein. The representative amino acid motifs of the virulent- and avirulent-type cleavage sites are shown.