Community Knowledge, Attitude, Practice and Prevalence of Brucellosis in In Livestock Owners in Northern Red Sea Region, Eritrea

Abstract

Background: Brucellosis is an infectious zoonotic disease broadly spread worldwide. Brucellosis is endemic in Eritrea, howeverthe prevalence rate, knowledge and practice of brucellosis among the livestock owners in the study area is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine theprevalence of brucellosis in livestock owners and evaluate the level of knowledge and practice of the community in Northern Red Sea region, Eritrea. Methods: Community-based cross sectional study, where a total of 29 villages 637 households and 22 livestock owners from each village were sampled for blood and data collection. Blood samples were tested using RBPTand positives samples further confirmed using c-ELISA. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. Results: A total of 637 respondents were enrolled in the study. Study participants were dominated by males (74.9%), Tigre ethnic (73%) and farmers (70.5%). The overall sero-prevalence of brucellosis in the study area was2.4% with the highest rate in Ghindae (3.9%). The comprehensive knowledge and practice was 58.4% and 10.5%, respectively.Comprehensive knowledge showed significant association with sub-region and age, while good practice indicated significant association with Age (P=0.000). Sub-region Ghindae indicated odds (OR)of 3.27 (P=0.001) for comprehensive knowledge and odds of (OR)3.12 (P=0.000) for good practice. Age group of ≥60 years shown odds of 4.40 (P=0.000) for compressive knowledge. Conclusion: The overall sero-prevalence of brucellosis in livestock owners in the study area was low, but considerable higher in some spot areas. The participantsshowed good level of knowledge and poor practice. Sub-regionand age were important factors associated with comprehensive knowledge and good practice of the participants.Respondents from Sub-region Ghindaeshowed relativelyhigher level of prevalence rate, comprehensive knowledge and good practice to wards brucellosis. The study recommends urgent educational campaign to increase the community knowledge and improve their good practice habit on brucellosis. Conductregular testing of animals and implement feasible control measures against the brucellosis.