Assessing rabies knowledge and perceptions among ethnic minorities in Greensboro, North Carolina

Abstract

Human behaviors play a fundamental role in the epidemiology of urban wildlife diseases, and those behaviors are shaped by knowledge and ethnicity. We evaluated knowledge of rabies, transmission routes, vector species, and response to rabies exposure with a bilingual (English/Spanish) in-person survey in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ethnicity, gender, and education level were predictors of rabies knowledge. Latinos and African Americans had less rabies knowledge than non-Latino Whites. Non-Latino Whites and men had less knowledge than women. Only 41% of African American respondents identified animal bites as a route of rabies transmission to humans, and less than half of all respondents knew that washing a bite wound with soap and water was useful rabies prevention. Our knowledge scale was internally consistent (Cronbach's alpha ¼ 0.73) and could be valuable for future studies of zoonotic disease knowledge. Future rabies educational campaigns should focus on developing culturally sensitive, language appropriate educational materials geared to minorities. Ó 2013 The Wildlife Society.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Regarding Rabies in El Jadida Region, Morocco

“…This may be associated with the level of education among young people compared to adults. This finding is consistent with previous studies [15,23,25]. According to a survey in India, the proportion of respondents with adequate knowledge decreased with increasing age, less for women and those with less education.…”

“…The level of awareness about rabies is influenced by several factors, such as age, sex, educational level [16], economic status [21], and religion [22]. In our study, no significant difference was found by gender, unlike a study done in North Carolina [23], which showed that women tended to have more knowledge. However, a study in Tanzania demonstrated that men were more knowledgeable when compared with women [24].…”

Knowledge and practices of residents in two north Namibian towns with regard to rabies and pet care

“…Similar to other studies that have been carried out in Africa 5,23 and other parts of the world, 24,25 it was encouraging to discover that participants with an education were more likely have a basic knowledge and awareness of rabies, as well as a good understanding of other animals involved in the local rabies epizootiology. However, the results highlight a need for focused education efforts to clarify specific points and assist individuals to internalise the facts.…”

Knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) evaluation regarding rabies in the Centre, Adamawa and North Regions of Cameroon

“…This result is different from the one obtained by Sambo et al (2014) who had a vaccination coverage of 51% by dog owners in their studies. The importance and influence of the cost of the vaccination has been proven as important in the vaccination coverage (Knobel et al, 2005) so as culture (Nel, 2013;Palamar et al, 2013). The practices regarding the control of rabies in dog population particularly stray dogs (49.88%) have asked for a canine shelter followed by the removal of strayed dogs by killing (34.25%).…”