POULTRYINDONESIA, Bogor — PT. Ceva Animal Health Indonesia hosted an international seminar to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first discovery of Newcastle Disease (ND) on the island of Java. Held in Bogor on Wednesday (Feb 11), the event was attended by nearly 100 participants from 15 countries, serving as a scientific forum bringing together experts, practitioners, and poultry industry stakeholders from various regions.

The Director of Animal Health at the Ministry of Agriculture, Hendra Wibawa, explained the journey of ND in Indonesia since its initial discovery in 1926. He reviewed the early identification processes, the development of first-generation vaccines, and the stages of viral characterization.

“Today, I will not only discuss the history of ND but also the current situation of the disease in Indonesia. ND in Indonesia is classified as a reportable animal disease that must be followed up through the national surveillance system. Regarding the vaccine industry, Indonesia possesses a strong domestic production capacity. Several national producers have a combined capacity large enough to meet domestic demand,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Ian Brown, head of the Avian Virology Group at the Pirbright Institute, presented a report on the emergence of the disease in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northeast England, in the same year, 1926. Because much of the early research followed its discovery in Newcastle, the disease became widely known as “Newcastle Disease.”

“At that time, clinical diagnosis still struggled to determine the cause of a disease. Doyle, an early researcher of ND, found that cases emerged near Newcastle, which was a trading hub with significant poultry imports from various parts of the world, including Southeast Asia. From there, the theory emerged that this virus likely originated in Asia,” Ian explained.

He also highlighted the contributions of long-term research at Weybridge, which has enriched global scientific understanding of ND and served as the foundation for various modern control approaches used today.

In the same session, Kiril Dimitrov, Associate Director of the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory, explained the complexity of past ND virus classifications and the progression toward the integrated disease control system now accepted internationally. The standardization of this classification is considered crucial as it facilitates studies on viral evolution and epidemiology, allowing for the comparison of research results across different countries.

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