Molecular characterization of Newcastle disease virus obtained from Mawenzi live bird market in Morogoro, Tanzania in 2020-2021.

Newcastle disease (ND) is among the most important poultry diseases worldwide. It is the major threat to poultry production in Africa and causes major economic losses for both local and commercial chickens. To date, half of ND class II genotypes have been reported in Africa (I, IV, V, VI, VII, XI, XIII, XIV, XVII, XVIII, and XXI).

Phenotypic variability and population structure analysis of Tanzanian free-range local chickens.

Background: Free-range local chickens (FRLC) farming is an important activity in Tanzania, however, they have not been well-characterized. This study aimed to phenotypically characterize three Tanzanian FRLCs and to determine their population structure. A total of 389 mature breeder chickens (324 females and 65 males) from three popular Tanzanian FRLC ecotypes (Kuchi, Morogoro-medium and Ching'wekwe) were used for the phenotypic characterization.