Abstract

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is a lymphodegenerative and immunosuppressive disease of chickens, characterized by structural and functional loss of the bursa of Fabricius (BF) with associated economic losses. There is a paucity of information on the prevalence of the disease in the South-South geopolitical zone compared to other zones of Nigeria. This study was designed to investigate the occurrence of IBD virus (IBDV) infection in the zone. In a cross-sectional study using simple random sampling technique, 450 apparently healthy, unvaccinated, indigenous chickens from Cross River, Delta and Rivers States (n=150 each) were bled and assayed for IBDV antibody using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Data were analysed using ANOVA. Seroprevalence of IBDV in Cross River, Delta and Rivers States were 100%, 98.67%, and 91.33% with average antibody titres (EU) of 1.74±0.07, 1.97±0.06 and 1.30±0.09, respectively. The high seroprevalence of infectious bursal disease virus antibody in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria indicates high endemicity of the disease in the zone and calls for the institution of control measures.

Key words: Antibodies, Chickens, ELISA, Gumboro disease, Infectious bursal disease