Assessment of retrospective rabies suspected cases registered at two hospitals, community and traditional healers’ knowledge, attitude and practices in south Ethiopian pastoralist

Abstract

Despite of available protective rabies vaccines for both human and animal, transmission of rabies from animals to people continues in Africa and Asia. Every year, over 59,000 people are estimated to die from the disease globally. Most of industrialized countries in Europe and North America have eliminated rabies from domestic dog populations. However, in the majority of developing countries, rabies remains endemic in domestic dog and poorly controlled. To understand rabies situation in pastoralist and agro-pastoralists area of southern Ethiopian, retrospective data on 431 rabies suspected animal bite cases registered at Bule Hora and Yabello Hospitals were collected and reviewed. Moreover, the knowledge, attitude and practice of 107 selected community members and 55 traditional healers were assessed. Out of 431 cases, 55.7% and 24.4% were < 15 and between 16-25 years age group, respectively. There were more male 55.5% cases than female 44.5%. Only 32% of cases registered at Yabello Hospital received post exposure prophylaxis (PEP), whereas the remaining referred to other health facilities. Ninety eight percent (98 %) of animal responsible for the bite was dog and the remaining were cat, fox and donkey. Most of bites were occurred in March-June (36.2%) and November-February (35.5%). Out of interviewed participants 87.8% of them know rabies and 83.2% were able to mention rabid animals' symptoms. The 78.5% of participants did mention how rabies transmitted to dog and 88.1 % of them described dog as main source of infection. The 91.6% of participants told us that rabies is transmit

Knowledge, attitudes and prevention practices related to dog-mediated rabies in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational epidemiological studies from inception to 2023

“…Except for a study by Kabeta et al ( 49 ) that was carried out among dog bite victims attending Jimma Town anti-rabies Health Center located in the Oromia region, the remaining 26 studies were conducted in the community ( 20 , 28–31 , 33–48 , 50–54 ). Twelve of the studies were published in the previous five years (2018–2023 Gregorian Calendar) ( 28 , 30 , 31 , 34–36 , 38 , 40 , 42 , 47 , 48 , 52 ). Eleven of the studies were conducted in the Amhara region ( 20 , 28 , 31 , 35 , 39 , 41 , 44 , 45 , 47 , 51 , 52 ), 9 in the Oromia region ( 29 , 30 , 33 , 38 , 42 , 46 , 49 , 50 ); 3 in Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia’s ( 37 , 43 , 53 ); 2 in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) ( 34 , 54 ), 1 each in Tigray ( 40 ), and Somalia ( 36 ) regions.…”

“…Twelve of the studies were published in the previous five years (2018–2023 Gregorian Calendar) ( 28 , 30 , 31 , 34–36 , 38 , 40 , 42 , 47 , 48 , 52 ). Eleven of the studies were conducted in the Amhara region ( 20 , 28 , 31 , 35 , 39 , 41 , 44 , 45 , 47 , 51 , 52 ), 9 in the Oromia region ( 29 , 30 , 33 , 38 , 42 , 46 , 49 , 50 ); 3 in Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia’s ( 37 , 43 , 53 ); 2 in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) ( 34 , 54 ), 1 each in Tigray ( 40 ), and Somalia ( 36 ) regions. The individual study estimates range from 7.50% ( 39 ) to 99.25% ( 51 ) for a good level of knowledge about rabies, 12.55% ( 53 ) to 95.57% ( 49 ) for a favorable level of attitudes, and 4.69% ( 52 ) to 85.68% ( 28 ) for a good level of practices towards rabies prevention ( Table 1 ).…”

“…41,44, 45, 47,51,52), 9 in the Oromia region(29,30, 33,38,42,46,49, 50); 3 in Addis Ababa the capital of Ethiopia's(37,43,53); 2 in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) (34, 54), 1 each in Tigray(40), and Somalia(36) regions. The individual study estimates range from 7.50% (39) to 99.25% (51) for a good level of knowledge about rabies, 12.55% (53) to 95.57% (49) for a favorable level of attitudes, and 4.69% (52) to 85.68% (28) for a good level of practices towards rabies prevention (Table1).…”

Dog demography, rabies awareness and dog bite cases in Bishoftu town, Ethiopia

“…A total of 130,673 doses of rabies vaccine were administered to humans and 85,055 doses were administered to animals during this period (Deressa et al, 2010). Moreover, a hospital-based study from the southern Ethiopian pastoral area revealed that 98% of rabies suspected animals bite were due to dog bites (Gum et al, 2019). Dogs are classified as owned, that are restricted within a fenced yard or in the homestead under the owners' supervision, or ownerless/stray dogs that are not under direct human control or not prohibited from freely roaming (Smith et al, 2019).…”