[Prevalence of Newcastle disease in traditional breeding facilities for chickens in Cameroon]

Although 65% of domesticated birds in the Cameroon are kept in traditional chicken farms, very little attention is given to this important sector by the administration as well as by the farmers themselves. This could be detrimental to the modern poultry sector where a lot of investments have been made during recent years. In order to estimate the danger of neglecting traditionally-raised chickens and the health threat they represent for the poultry population of the country, a study was conducted to evaluate the impact of Newcastle disease in traditional farms. A total of 180 chicken blood serum samples from three provinces of the Cameroon were submitted to the haemagglutination inhibition test; 51.66%, 48.33% and 46.66% of birds respectively from the East, West and North provinces reacted positively to the test. The consequences of such a situation are emphasised.