Anthrax prevention practice and associated factors among farmers in Farta district, South Gondar, Amhara region, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Anthrax is a zoonotic disease endemic in Ethiopia. Despite anthrax preventive measures are the key activities to control the disease, several outbreaks have occurred in Ethiopia recently. The objective of the study was therefore to assess the anthrax preventive practice and its associated factors among farmers in Farta district, South Gondar zone, Northwest Ethiopia. Method A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among farmers in Farta District from June 7 to 21/2020. A multi-stage sampling technique, with systematic random sampling, was used to select 1,338 study participants. Data were collected through a face-to-face interview using a structured questionnaire. The data were cleaned, coded, and entered into the Epi-data v 3.1 and then exported to SPSS v 23 for analysis. In the bi-variable regression analysis, the variables having a p-value of less than 0.2 were entered into a multivariable logistic regression to control the effect of confounding. Those independent variables with P-value less than 0.05 were taken as statistically significant factors associated with anthrax prevention practice. Results The proportion of farmers who had good anthrax prevention practice was 35.8% [95% CI 33%, 38%]. Being female (AOR = 2.96; 95% CI 2.18, 4.02), able to read and write (AOR = 1.48, 95% CI 1.08, 2.03), time spent to arrive at a nearby veterinary clinic (AOR = 1.35; 95%CI 1.01, 1.79), heard about anthrax (AOR = 4.54; 95%CI 2.96, 6.95), and had a favorable attitude towards anthrax preventions (AOR = 3.70; 95%CI 2.77, 4.94) were significantly associated with anthrax prevention practice. Conclusions The practice of anthrax prevention was low. Sex, educational status, time spent to arrive at the nearby veterinary clinic, knowledge about anthrax, and attitude towards anthrax prevention were significantly associated with anthrax prevention practice. Health education to create a favorable attitude and the establishment of veterinary clinics in the nearby locations are recommended to improve anthrax preventive practices in the study area.

Knowledge-attitude and practice of Anthrax and brucellosis: Implications for zoonotic disease surveillance and control in pastoral communities of Afar and Somali region, Ethiopia

“…Although a third of pastoralists' knowledge was provided by animal health workers, only few public health workers (4.1%) contributed to community awareness. A similar lack of involvement of HEWs in disease knowledge transfer was observed in a study conducted in Gondar [15]. Our study showed that also the role of the media as a tool to raise disease awareness was very limited in these areas.…”

“…This raises the question whether Anthrax cases are highly under-reported in these pastoral areas. While sporadic outbreaks in both animals and humans are reported across the country [6,[14][15][16], to our PLOS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES knowledge, there are no peer-reviewed published reports specifically addressing Anthrax in Afar and SRS. However, in addition to our study, there have been regular reports of suspected Anthrax outbreaks documented in grey literature and local news sources.…”

Anthrax Bio-Surveillance of Livestock in Arua District, Uganda, 2017-2018

“…Therefore, education is the cornerstone to expanding the knowledge of anthrax among the farmers' population and preventing its spread. These findings are supported by a study conducted in Ethiopia, in which education background and knowledge of anthrax were associated with better anthrax prevention practices (Mesfin et al, 2021). Other factors include sex (females had better anthrax prevention practice than males), time spent arriving at the nearby clinic, and attitude towards anthrax prevention (Mesfin et al, 2021).…”