Poultry farms across Alicante, Castellón and Valencia must now follow stricter vaccination schedules against Newcastle disease. The Valencian government has extended the reinforced rules to all commercial chicken breeding and production farms, as well as turkey fattening units, including those outside the restriction zones drawn around recent outbreaks.
The resolution, published in the regional official gazette on 22 October, follows the national laboratory’s confirmation earlier this month of three outbreaks in Fuenterrobles, Utiel and Sinarcas. A secondary outbreak was subsequently found at another farm in Utiel. The virus spreads readily among birds, but the health authorities stress that poultry meat and eggs remain safe to eat.
More doses and veterinary checks
The schedule varies by production system. Fast-growing broilers must receive an initial recombinant or vector vaccine followed by at least three live-vaccine applications by spray. Slow-growing chickens require between three and five live applications, while fattening turkeys must receive at least five.
Laying hens and breeding flocks already in production must be revaccinated with a live vaccine at intervals no longer than six weeks. During rearing, birds intended for laying or breeding must receive at least two inactivated and three live applications. Commercial egg farms will also have to use serological testing to check the immune response of replacement birds.
Each farm’s vet is responsible for applying the programme. For flocks already housed when the resolution took effect, the vet has ten calendar days to draw up an adapted schedule based on the birds’ age, previous vaccinations and the time remaining in the production cycle.
Vaccination does not replace biosecurity
Spain’s Agriculture Ministry says vaccination reduces both the likelihood of infection and the amount of virus shed by infected birds, although it does not offer complete protection. Movement restrictions in affected zones, cleaning and disinfection, surveillance of wild birds and the immediate reporting of suspicious symptoms therefore remain in force.
The next key evidence will be the course of the Utiel-Requena outbreaks and the results of official monitoring. A detection outside that district, a change to restriction zones or the lifting of measures would materially alter the scope of the current rules.