Knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to anthrax and animal care: A case-control study in Georgia

Abstract

IntroductionAnthrax is endemic in Georgia and recent outbreaks prompted a livestock-handler case-control study with a component to evaluate anthrax knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among livestock handlers or owners.MethodsCases were handlers of livestock with confirmed animal anthrax from June 2013-May 2015. Handlers of four matched unaffected animals were selected as controls, two from the same village as the case animal (“village control”) and two from 3–10 km away (“area control”). Descriptive statistics were reported and conditional logistic regression was performed to estimate the magnitude of the association of cases with specific study KAP factors.ResultsCases were more likely male, had lower level college education, less animal care experience, and provided more animal care to their cattle. Cases had lower odds of burying a suddenly dead animal compared to all controls (Odds Ratio [OR]: 0.32, 95% Confidence interval [CI]:0.12, 0.88) and area controls (OR: 0.32, 95% CI: 0.11, 0.91). On an 8-point knowledge scale, cases having an animal with anthrax had a 1.31 times greater knowledge score compared to all controls (95% CI: 1.03, 1.67). Cases had higher odds of ever having human anthrax or knowing another person who had anthrax compared to all controls (OR: 4.56, 95% CI: 1.45, 14.30) and area controls (OR: 7.16, 95% CI: 1.52, 33.80).DiscussionCases were more knowledgeable of anthrax and had better anthrax prevention practices, but these are likely a result of the case investigation and ring vaccination following the death of their animal.ConclusionsThe findings reveal a low level of knowledge and practices related to anthrax control and prevention, and will guide educational material development to fill these gaps.

Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) towards Anthrax among livestock farmers in selected rural areas of Bangladesh

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The Landscape of Anthrax Prevention and Control: Stakeholders’ Perceptive in Odisha, India

“…It was found that routine vaccination policy including ring-vaccination is one of the better strategies for prevention and control of anthrax [28][29][30]. However, the participants of our study claimed that in-spite zero-cost vaccination policy in endemic regions, still the coverage is very low.…”

“…However, the participants of our study claimed that in-spite zero-cost vaccination policy in endemic regions, still the coverage is very low. The low-uptake of livestock vaccination was strongly associated with social and cultural factors rather than economic [30][31][32]. The reluctance and mistrust among livestock owners was the key barrier for vaccination [5].…”

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