Dog Owners’ Knowledge about Rabies and Other Factors That Influence Canine Anti-Rabies Vaccination in the Upper East Region of Ghana

Abstract

Background: Human rabies, often contracted through dog bites, is a serious but neglected public health problem in the tropics, including Ghana. Due to its high fatality rate, adequate knowledge and vaccination of domestic dogs against the disease are very crucial in reducing its burden. We examined dog owners’ knowledge level on rabies and factors that influenced anti-rabies vaccination of dogs in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 260 randomly sampled dog owners in six communities from six Districts using a multistage sampling technique, in the Upper East Region of Ghana. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. Descriptive and inferential analyses were done using STATA 14.1. Results: While knowledge about rabies was 199 (76.5%), that about anti-rabies vaccination was 137 (52.7%). District of residence (χ2 = 112.59, p < 0.001), sex (χ2 = 6.14, p = 0.013), education (χ2 = 20.45, p < 0.001) as well as occupation (χ2 = 11.97, p = 0.007) were significantly associated with rabies knowledge. District of residence (χ2 = 57.61, p < 0.001), Educational level (χ2 = 15.37, p = 0.004), occupation (χ2 = 11.66, p = 0.009), religion (χ2 = 8.25, p = 0.016) and knowledge on rabies (χ2 = 42.13, p < 0.001) were also statistically associated with dog vaccination against rabies. Dog owners with good knowledge on rabies for instance, were more likely to vaccinate their dogs against rabies compared to those with poor knowledge [AOR = 1.99 (95% CI: 0.68, 5.86), p = 0.210]. Dog owners with tertiary level of education were also 76.31 times more likely (95% CI: 6.20, 938.49, p = 0.001) to have good knowledge about rabies compared to those with no formal education. Conclusions: Dog owners in the Upper East Region of Ghana had good knowledge about rabies. This, however, did not translate into correspondingly high levels of dog vaccination against the disease. Rabies awareness and vaccination campaigns should, therefore, be intensified in the region, especially among the least educated and female dog owners.

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“…One of the major contrasts between the countries was found in the organization of dog vaccination campaigns. Ghana went from having national vaccination campaigns before 1997 to having to rely on more localized interventions dependent on local government and voluntary associations for financial and technical support after 1998 [ 39 , 43 , 44 ]. In India, the opposite was true, as local control programs were organized before implementing the NRCP and the ABC [ 76 ].…”

“…Rabies in Ghana is endemic and was been identified as a neglected disease that posed a threat to public health due to many factors, including the large dog population, the weak surveillance system, and limited laboratory and vaccines supply [ [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] ]. Before 1998, the Government of Ghana conducted an annual national vaccination campaign led by the Veterinary Services Directorate and funded by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.…”

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“…This result is in line with the study of Balan (2015) who revealed that majority of dog owners in Chennai were belonging to 19-35 years of age group, male and did graduation. Ameh et al, (2014), Awuni et al, (2019) and Baines et al, (2020), stated in their studies that majority of the pets were owned by male.…”

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“…Two studies reported an increase in MDV coverage following these activities [25,26], even though poor MDV coverage was also reported with the two other studies [27,28]. Mixed outcomes of awareness campaigns can be explained from Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices (KAP) studies showing that higher knowledge does not always translate into adoption of preventive measures [30][31][32][33]. Several studies reported misconceptions about appropriate preventive measures following a rabies exposure like a bite [30,[34][35][36].…”