Knowledge and perception of pastoral community members about brucellosis as a cause of abortion in animals and its zoonotic importance in Amibara district, Afar Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

Sero-epidemiological studies of brucellosis in the Afar Region showed that the disease is prevalent in livestock. However, there is little information regarding the pastoral community members’ awareness about brucellosis as a cause of abortion in animals and its zoonotic importance. In this study, we assessed knowledge and perception of pastoral community members about brucellosis as a cause of abortion in animals and its zoonotic importance in Amibara district, Afar Region, Ethiopia. Between October and December 2016, a total of 475 study participants (age range 18–80 years, mean age 35.9 years) were interviewed about abortion in their animals, its causes, and diseases that can be transmitted to humans through consumption of raw milk. Almost all (97.7%) of the study participants reported that abortion in animals, especially in goats, is a major problem in the area, and they mentioned that disease (44.6%), drought (58.4%) and fly bites (29.5%) as the main causes of abortion. The study participantsalso thought that malaria (42.9%) and bovine tuberculosis (19.3%) can be transmitted to humans through consuming raw milk. Five respondents (4.2%) mentioned brucellosis (locally known as “hahayita”) as a disease that can be transmitted through frequent consumption of raw milk. The majority (91.9%) mentioned malaria as a cause of febrile illness in humans and 16 (4.4%) participants mentioned brucellosis as a cause of febrile illness. Some participants also mentioned brucellosis as a cause of joint swelling (hygroma) in cattle. In conclusion, the pastoral community members in the present study area lack clear understanding about brucellosis as one of the diseases that cause abortion in their animals and its zoonotic importance. There is a need to create awareness about the zoonotic and animal health importance of brucellosis through various means such as community health extension/veterinary workers and community leaders.

Knowledge and preventive practices of livestock farmers on infectious causes of reproductive disorders in dairy cows in the Kembata Tambaro zone, southern Ethiopia

“…The low awareness of respondents could be attributed to a lack of adequate understanding of livestock diseases and the low proportion of farmers that received formal education in the study area, which is in agreement with the study report in Pakistan (Arif et al 2017). Similarly, in the present study, fewer respondents were aware about the risk of transmission of any disease from animals to humans, which is in line with the findings in Ethiopia (Legesse et al 2018;Zewdie et al 2018) and elsewhere (Ndengu et al 2017;Zhang et al 2019). This suggested that improving LFs' knowledge on animal disease and the likely modes of transmission could help to reduce disease risk in humans.…”

Knowledge, attitude, and practices to zoonotic disease risks from livestock birth products among smallholder communities in Ethiopia

“…Even though the majority of the respondents reported sheep and goats' abortion during the two years before the interview, the causes of abortion, their transmission modes, preventive actions, and their public health significance are rarely known and understood by farmers and pastoralists. Previous studies in Ethiopia [ 36 , 64 ] and elsewhere [ 43 , 65 ] have also described knowledge gap on the public health risk of zoonotic abortion-causing agents such as Brucella, Leptospira, Toxoplasma, Chlamydophila and Coxiella. This low level of awareness of zoonotic diseases among communities may be the consequence of low information and awareness about the burden and transmission of the disease among veterinary and public health professionals, inaccessibility of public health centres, and lack of trained manpower in health education [ 21 , 43 , 51 , 59 ].…”

Comparison of knowledge, attitude, and practices of animal and human brucellosis between nomadic pastoralists and non-pastoralists in Kenya

“…Interestingly, many studies show significant knowledge of brucellosis among rural and urban populations in developing countries; with between 40 and 100% of populations reporting awareness of the disease and its clinical presentations [8,[12][13][14]. However, few studies have been carried out among nomadic pastoralist communities residing in underdeveloped remote and arid areas and deriving livelihood primarily from rearing livestockwhere infection risk is likely elevated [13,15].…”