Knowledge-attitude and practice of Anthrax and brucellosis: Implications for zoonotic disease surveillance and control in pastoral communities of Afar and Somali region, Ethiopia.

Item request has been placed! ×
Item request cannot be made. ×
loading   Processing Request
Read Online Read More Add to Saved list
  • Author(s): Tschopp R;Tschopp R;Tschopp R;Tschopp R; Kidanu AG; Kidanu AG
  • Source:
    PLoS neglected tropical diseases [PLoS Negl Trop Dis] 2024 Apr 04; Vol. 18 (4), pp. e0012067. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Apr 04 (Print Publication: 2024).
  • Publication Type:
    Journal Article
  • Language:
    English
  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101291488 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1935-2735 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19352727 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS Negl Trop Dis Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science
    • Subject Terms:
      Anthrax*/epidemiology ; Anthrax*/prevention & control ; Brucellosis*/epidemiology ; Brucellosis*/prevention & control ; Vaccines*; Animals ; Humans ; Female ; Ethiopia/epidemiology ; Somalia/epidemiology ; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice ; Zoonoses/epidemiology ; Zoonoses/prevention & control
    • Abstract:
      Background: Anthrax and brucellosis are endemic national priority zoonotic diseases in Ethiopia. This study assess the possible factors explaining the current limited information available on animal and human cases in pastoral communities.
      Methods: Two questionnaire surveys gathered data from 509 pastoralists and 51 healthcare providers between February and April 2019 in five districts of Afar and the Somali region (SRS).
      Results: Among the 51 healthcare providers, 25 (49%) and 38 (74.5%) had heard of brucellosis, and anthrax, respectively. Of those, only 3 (12%) and 14 (36.8%) knew the symptoms of brucellosis and Anthrax. None of the Health Extension Workers knew any disease symptoms. Healthcare providers recalled two human cases of brucellosis and 39 cases of Anthrax in the last 12 months, based on symptom-based diagnosis. Pastoralists had a moderate level of knowledge about diseases in their animals, with over half (52.4%; n = 267/509) understanding that animals can transmit diseases to people. Overall, 280 out of 508 (55.1%) and 333 out of 507 (65.7%) pastoralists had heard of brucellosis and Anthrax, respectively. Among the latter, 282 (51.3%) knew at least one preventive measure for Anthrax. However, disease knowledge among women was poor. Despite their knowledge, pastoralists engaged in risky unprotected animal handling, animal product consumption/usage as well as husbandry behaviors exposing them to pathogens and favoring the spread of diseases. They identified Anthrax as the most important zoonosis (47.6%) and as one of top three diseases suspected to cause mortality in their livestock. Pastoralists highlighted lack of vaccine coverage, availability and their timely administration. Both, pastoralists and healthcare providers stated the lack of disease awareness and the unavailability of drugs in the market as important challenges. Health facilities lacked protocols and standard operating procedures for managing zoonotic diseases, and did not have access to laboratory confirmation of pathogens.
      Conclusion: Our study revealed significant under-reporting of Anthrax and brucellosis, and weak prevention and response in humans, mostly associated with poor disease knowledge of healthcare providers. Ability to respond to animal outbreaks was limited by vaccine and drugs availability, timely vaccine administration and the mobility of pastoralists.
      Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
      (Copyright: © 2024 Tschopp, Kidanu. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
    • References:
      Prev Vet Med. 2022 Feb;199:105557. (PMID: 34902652)
      BMC Vet Res. 2020 Feb 3;16(1):39. (PMID: 32013973)
      Ann Agric Environ Med. 2017 Dec 23;24(4):712-715. (PMID: 29284252)
      BMC Infect Dis. 2020 Nov 10;20(1):814. (PMID: 33167885)
      Evol Appl. 2016 Jan 08;9(2):313-33. (PMID: 26834828)
      Biomed Res Int. 2016;2016:3942672. (PMID: 27579311)
      PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2022 Feb 10;16(2):e0010181. (PMID: 35143510)
      Science. 2017 Jul 14;357(6347):146-148. (PMID: 28706036)
      PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2021 Aug 6;15(8):e0009593. (PMID: 34358232)
      BMC Res Notes. 2013 Aug 07;6:313. (PMID: 23924443)
      Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2010 Dec 14;107(50):21701-6. (PMID: 21115835)
      Heliyon. 2021 Dec 02;7(12):e08531. (PMID: 34934843)
      PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2014 Jun 05;8(6):e2800. (PMID: 24901769)
      One Health. 2016 Dec;2:131-135. (PMID: 28220151)
      Nature. 2008 Feb 21;451(7181):990-3. (PMID: 18288193)
      J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2013 Jan 23;9:8. (PMID: 23343251)
      Bosn J Basic Med Sci. 2020 Nov 02;20(4):415-422. (PMID: 31782698)
      Zoonoses Public Health. 2016 Mar;63(2):138-51. (PMID: 26177028)
      BMC Infect Dis. 2023 Mar 17;23(1):167. (PMID: 36932357)
    • Accession Number:
      0 (Vaccines)
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20240404 Date Completed: 20240418 Latest Revision: 20240418
    • Publication Date:
      20240418
    • Accession Number:
      PMC11020881
    • Accession Number:
      10.1371/journal.pntd.0012067
    • Accession Number:
      38574113