Ongoing Outbreak of Newcastle Disease in Southern California, United States.

In May of 2018, a backyard bird owner presented four sick chickens to a private veterinary clinic in Los Angeles County, California. By the following day, all chickens had died. The treating veterinarian sent specimens to the California Animal Health and Food Safety laboratory at U.C. Davis for testing. On May 16, 2018, the U.C. Davis laboratory reported that virulent Newcastle Disease (vND) was detected by rRT-PCR. This detection met the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) case definition for a presumptive positive result for vND. vND was confirmed by the National Veterinary Services Laboratories-the U.S. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.