Assessment of knowledge and practice of vaccination of dogs against rabies by dog owners in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

Objective: Rabies, one of the oldest and fatal infectious diseases known to human race, is transmitted by infected dogs. The global target of zero dog-mediated rabies human deaths has been set for 2030; however, the realization of this goal poses challenges in most low-income countries where rabies is endemic due to weak surveillance. Dogs have been increasingly deployed for domestic uses over the years, especially for security purposes. This study assessed the assessment of knowledge and practice of vaccination of dogs against rabies by dog owners. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional community-based study was employed to study 400 dog owners in Makurdi metropolis through multistage sampling techniques. Sighting of valid dog vaccination card was used as criteria for current vaccination. Bivariate analysis was carried out to establish the relationship between the respondent knowledge of rabies and dog vaccination with significant value set at P < 0.05. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 31 (Â ± 0.8) years, majority of them had tertiary and secondary education (40.0% and 39.0%, respectively), 26.0% were traders, and 50.0% were married. Overall, 73.0% of the respondents had good knowledge score, 61.0% had seen at least a rabid dog in their life time, and 74.0% have a history of dog vaccination, but evidence of up to date vaccination of dogs by owners was seen in only 18.0% of all the vaccination cards sighted. The relationship between the educational status of the respondents, their knowledge score, and their dog vaccination was statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Knowledge of rabies among dog owners in Makurdi was good, but the practice of dog vaccination was poor. Educational status was a good predictor of practice. Awareness campaign on dog vaccination should be strengthened and adequate measures should be put in place at the veterinary hospitals in Makurdi for vaccination of dogs.

An Eight-Year Review of the Frequency and Outcome of Dog Bite and Clinical Rabies in a Teaching Hospital in North Central Nigeria

“…This study has also shown that majority of the victim was bitten by stray dogs,46.7% with about 40.0% of the dogs vaccinated which aligns with previous works by Omoke et al and Abubakar et al that reported 37.8% and 30.8% vaccination status respectively [14] [15]. In contrast to ours, a study in the same area by Audu et al reported 18.0% of up-to-date vaccination in dogs [25]. The lower dog vaccination status in their study may be due to the fact that the investigators insisted on sighting valid dog vaccination card as criteria for current vaccination while ours was based on reported information from the patients or their caregivers.…”

Prospects for dog rabies elimination in Nigeria by 2030

“…Our analysis of the current literatures shows that the incidence of dog bites from the dog ecology studies ( n = 18) was 22.1% (1077/3699). The lowest dog bite incidence (10.6%) was reported in Aba, Abia State (Otolorin et al., 2014) whereas the highest incidence was reported in Benue State in which 61% ( n = 244/400) of the respondents (dog owners only) were previously bitten by dogs (Onyemocho et al., 2020) (Table S2).…”