Isolation, Identification, and Molecular Characterization of Newcastle Disease Virus from Field Outbreaks in Chickens in Afghanistan

Newcastle disease viruses (NDVs) in Afghanistan were isolated from three chicken farms and identified using a hemagglutination test and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay. Three isolates from each farm were sequenced to characterize the part of their fusion protein gene around the cleavage site. The characteristics of the fusion protein genes of the three isolates shown by phylogenic analysis indicated that the isolates were velogenic, belonged to the class II subgenotype VII 1.1, and were closely related to an identified Chinese NDV isolate. To our knowledge, this is the first time that NDV isolates from Afghanistan have been partially sequenced.