PoultryWorld: Newcastle disease spreads further in Europe

Newcastle disease is spreading to more countries in Europe, and in countries where the disease was already prevalent, the number of infected farms has steadily been increasing. This is according to a report by Defra.

In the 7 months till the end of January, Poland has reported a further 66 outbreaks in commercial poultry farms. Newcastle disease has also been detected in neighboring Slovakia with a single outbreak in a small poultry farm in December.

Spain reported its first case in a broiler farm with 15,000 chickens in the Valencia region around Christmas, with the number of cases now having risen to 5. Both Bulgaria and North Macedonia reported single outbreaks of Newcastle disease in commercial poultry in the summer of 2025.

Rise in Newcastle disease in non-commercial birds

The number of outbreaks in captive birds on non-commercial farms has increased significantly in eastern Europe from 7 in both September and October to 40 in December, Defra says. According to the Animal Disease Information System (ADIS), Poland reported 28 outbreaks in December 2025 and 20 outbreaks in November 2025.

In addition, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia all reported outbreaks in non-commercial (captive bird) farms in December 2025. Outbreaks on non-commercial farms have continued into 2026 with 6 in the Czech Republic and 6 in Poland up to 21 January 2026.

Great Britain applies disease safeguard measures and lists regions approved for export of live poultry and poultry meat according to regionalisation. Therefore, no such products can be consigned to Great Britain from a disease restriction zone.

Broiler farms predominantly affected by Newcastle disease

Nevertheless, there are uncertainties around why there have been a large number of outbreaks in Eastern Europe and beyond, Defra experts state. Many of the outbreaks are in broiler farms, where vaccination is not likely to be continuously applied due to high turnover of birds and short lifespans. However, whether there are any wild (including game) bird incursions responsible for the new cases of affected poultry is not known, Defra says.

The recent detections in poultry in Spain pose a higher risk to Great Britain this spring when many passerines and other wild bird species migrate north through the East Atlantic Flyway.

While the risk to poultry in Great Britain remains low, the risk has increased within the low risk range, and according to Defra it will be important to monitor the spread of Newcastle disease within Spain in February and March. It is recommended that poultry keepers consider vaccinating their flocks and practice good biosecurity.