Virus distribution and histopathologic changes in organs of chickens inoculated with Newcastle disease virus (avian paramyxovirus-1) isolated from racing pigeons.

The virus distribution and histopathologic changes in organs of 1-week-old chickens inoculated with three representative isolates of Newcastle disease virus isolated from racing pigeons in Japan were examined. All three isolates were recovered from various organs, including brain, for several days, but not from the blood. Results were highly correlated with their high intracerebral pathogenicity indices (ICPI), in spite of their long mean death time of minimum lethal dose (MDT/MLD).