Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health concern of zoonotic importance, and Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis are the most common causes of TB in animals and humans, respectively. Integral to TB control strategies are the communities affected by this epidemic. Tuberculosis awareness by the community is an effective TB control strategy as education empowers people to make informed choices with regard to mitigating TB risk factors in their daily lives. We conducted a knowledge, attitude and perceptions survey in Mnisi pastoral community in South Africa using a semi-structured questionnaire to evaluate the level of bovine TB (bTB) awareness, and provided informed feedback to the community on the outcome of the study. Although participants were aware of TB, the knowledge of the zoonotic potential of bTB and about susceptible hosts was limited. The study findings showed knowledge gaps regarding common risk factors, including coughing while herding cattle, unsupervised/uninspected communal slaughter and improper disposal of infected meat. In contrast, it was noted that the majority of participants discarded meat with visible lesions and consumed pasteurised milk; thus, the risk of TB transmission via the ingestion route is low. Tuberculosis knowledge gaps were evident in the community, and public health and veterinary authorities need to improve relationships with stakeholders and implement awareness programmes that use a one health approach.
BackgroundTuberculosis (TB) is a global health concern caused mostly by Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) and Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) in animals and humans respectively. As part of TB control strategies, most governments instituted test and slaughter policies for bovine TB (bTB) eradication with varied level of success.MethodsUsing the SurvCost® (http://www.cdc.gov/idsr/survcost.htm), we evaluated the postmortem surveillance (PMS) system as an alternative to the tuberculin skin test (TST). Experts’opinions survey was used to collect information on the perceived level of acceptability of PMS and TST, successes and challenges of both surveillance systems, economic and budget data. Benefit cost analysis of both systems were evaluated and the comparative economic benefit of PMS over TST was determined.ResultsTST implementation was challenging due to poor logistics, procurement challenge, poor feedback, inconsistency in testing and poor return rate for retesting. Experts agreed that PMS was cheaper but almost impracticable due to late detection and probable poor compliance rate but farmers were more open to PMS than TST. Personnel cost remains the largest part of the surveillance cost (47.8% of total costs). TST and PMS systems can be up to 4.40 and 5.96 times more beneficial that not tackling bTB respectively and PMS is 1.35 more cost beneficial that TST.ConclusionWhile TST is empirical, compliance by farmers was poor due to the associated inconveniences. In the alternative, PMS was convenient for farmers but experts believed that adherence will be poor unless increased manpower is available. We advocated for a blended approach between the two systems. Improved field surveillance and detailed economic data should benefit future economic assessment.Trial registrationNot applicable.
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