Estimation of dog population in Nasarawa state Nigeria: a pilot study

Abstract

IntroductionEstimation of dog population is relevant in Animal Health Planning; some of the benefits include rabies control and possible elimination, estimation of quantity of dog vaccines and drugs required in the state, policy development and implementation.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted to estimate the population of dogs in Nasarawa state; a local government area (LGA) was randomly selected from each of the three senatorial districts and two wards were selected randomly from the selected LGA's. Three hundred and thirteen questionnaires were administered through face to face interview with dog owners and their dogs in view.ResultsAnalysis indicated 97.7% of the dogs were local breeds, 1.7% mixed and 0.3% exotic breeds. Guard dogs were 77% and 23% were used for hunting. Majority of the dogs (67.5%) were owned/stray while 32.5% were owned/confined. In Nasarawa state, 21% of the dogs were vaccinated and 79% had no vaccination history. The low vaccination rate indicates possible threat to animal and human health; hunting dogs are possible source of rabies introduction into their immediate communities from contact with wild reservoirs of the virus. Majority of dogs were between 1-5 years (73%) and more female dogs (52.5%) than males (47.5%) were reported. The dog to household ratio was 1.1:1 while the dog to human ratio is 1.1:6. Estimated number of dogs in Nasarawa state was 462,586 dogs.ConclusionProper sensitization of dog owners on annual antirabies vaccination against rabies in dogs and postexposure prophylaxis in humans is recommended. The local authorities should institute effective measures for the control of stray dogs to prevent the risk of dog bites and other environmental hazards posed by such dogs. The state government should enact and enforce laws on responsible dog ownership to include compulsory annual vaccination of all dogs. This exercise should be replicated in other states of the federation for a comprehensive national dog ecological data necessary for planning, policy development and implementation.

Baseline epidemiology and associated dog ecology study towards stepwise elimination of rabies in Kwara state, Nigeria

“…However, this does not agree with the findings of Kwaghe et al, (2019); Hambolu et al (2014) who reported higher female to male dog ratio. Dogs were mostly kept for security purposes.…”

“…Most of the owned dogs were local breeds. This aligns with reports from Kwaghe et al, (2019) and Grace et al, (2018).…”

“…Dogs were mostly kept for security purposes. This is similar to reports from other parts of Nigeria and Africa (Kwaghe et al, 2019;Garba et al, 2017;Mauti et al, 2017). The median age of owned dogs were 1-3 years was similar to reports from all over the country that shows the average dog were older than 1 year (Otolorin et al, 2014;Hambolu et al, 2013).…”

“…The dog to human ratio of approximately 1:10 is lower than 1: 7.8 reported in Abia state (Otolorin et al, 2014). Similarly, Kwaghe et al, (2019) reported a higher dog-human ratio of 1: 6.6. Other studies like those of Hambolu et al, (2014);Atuman et.…”

Awareness and knowledge of canine rabies: A state-wide cross-sectional study in Nigeria

“…A myriad of challenges such as poor awareness and knowledge of rabies, lack of political will, shortage of vaccines, and other vaccine-related factors has led to the endemicity of rabies and significant under-reporting of rabies in Nigeria [10]. Moreover, the presence of free-roaming dogs has complicated rabies elimination in Africa and Asia [11][12][13]. Globally, eradication of canine rabies combined with post-exposure prophylaxis is widely considered as the most cost-effective means of eradicating human rabies [14,15].…”