ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Region’s poultry sector is facing major challenges amid the outbreak of a new strain of Newcastle disease in Duhok province, north of the Region.
A team of researchers at Duhok University on Friday uncovered the new strain that was registered in the National Library of Medicine in the United States.
A French company, Lush Tech, is now partnering with local researchers to develop a targeted vaccine for the new variant
“We have consulted doctors [veterinarians], but they say viruses evolve. We urged the government to work with the companies to find out what the cause behind it is,” said Kawa Dawood, a chicken project owner.
Dawood reported devastating losses: out of 40,000 chickens, 22,000 had to be destroyed at just 32 days old, resulting in a financial loss of 80 million dinars (around $61,000).
Zuher Mayi, head of Lush Tech, told Rudaw, “We have employees who think like the French, we give them training two to four times a year, sometimes here and other times in France.”
However, Mayi added that some local veterinarians oppose antibiotic use, fearing that it may serve the company’s interests more than the farmers’.
Nearly 45 poultry farms across Duhok province were impacted by the virus in 2024, leading to the deaths of around one million chickens, according to figures obtained by Rudaw.
In 2023, an estimated 10 million chickens were lost in less than two months in the Kurdistan Region due to viral outbreaks.
Infected chickens display severe symptoms such as nasal discharge, paralysis, twisted necks, swollen eyes and necks, and greenish diarrhea. Once infected, chickens do not recover.
At the time, Erbil’s Poultry Farmers Association attributed the deaths to unregulated commercial vaccines and a lack of coordinated governmental vaccination efforts.
Hunar Rasheed contributed to this article.
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