Awareness and attitudes towards anthrax and meat consumption practices among affected communities in Zambia: A mixed methods approach.
In Zambia, human anthrax cases often occur following cases of animal anthrax. Human behaviour has been implicated in this transmission. The objective of the study was to explore human behavioural patterns that may contribute to outbreaks of anthrax among affected communities.A mixed methods study wa...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8ce16e9c9b4049eb9b9f378553cc4bda 2023-05-15T15:15:26+02:00 Awareness and attitudes towards anthrax and meat consumption practices among affected communities in Zambia: A mixed methods approach. Doreen Chilolo Sitali Chisoni Mumba Eystein Skjerve Oliver Mweemba Consolata Kabonesa Mwinyi Omary Mwinyi Luke Nyakarahuka John Bwalya Muma 2017-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005580 https://doaj.org/article/8ce16e9c9b4049eb9b9f378553cc4bda EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5443538?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0005580 https://doaj.org/article/8ce16e9c9b4049eb9b9f378553cc4bda PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 11, Iss 5, p e0005580 (2017) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005580 2022-12-31T12:25:45Z In Zambia, human anthrax cases often occur following cases of animal anthrax. Human behaviour has been implicated in this transmission. The objective of the study was to explore human behavioural patterns that may contribute to outbreaks of anthrax among affected communities.A mixed methods study was conducted in four districts of Zambia from November 2015 to February 2016. A cross sectional survey involving 1,127 respondents, six focus group discussions and seven key informant interviews with professional staff were conducted. Descriptive statistics on socio-demographic characteristics, awareness of anthrax, attitudes towards cattle vaccination and risk factors for anthrax and vaccination practices were run using STATA 12 for analysis.Overall, 88% of respondents heard about anthrax, 85.1% were aware that anthrax is transmitted by eating infected meat and 64.2% knew that animals and humans can be infected with anthrax. However, qualitative data suggested that awareness of anthrax varied across communities. Qualitative findings also indicated that, in Western and Muchinga provinces, human anthrax was transmitted by eating infected beef and hippo (Hippopotamus amphibious) meat, respectively. Although survey data indicated that 62.2% of respondents vaccinated their animals, qualitative interviews and annual vaccination reports indicated low vaccination rates, which were attributed to inadequate veterinary service provision and logistical challenges. While 82% of respondents indicated that they reported animal deaths to veterinary officers, only 13.5% of respondents buried infected carcasses. Majority (78.1%) of respondents either ate, sold or shared meat from dead animals with other community members. Poverty, lack of access to meat protein and economic reasons were cited as drivers for consuming infected meat.Health education campaigns must be intensified to reduce the risk of human exposure. Veterinary extension services should be strengthened and cold chain facilities decentralized in order to improve ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 11 5 e0005580 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Doreen Chilolo Sitali Chisoni Mumba Eystein Skjerve Oliver Mweemba Consolata Kabonesa Mwinyi Omary Mwinyi Luke Nyakarahuka John Bwalya Muma Awareness and attitudes towards anthrax and meat consumption practices among affected communities in Zambia: A mixed methods approach. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
In Zambia, human anthrax cases often occur following cases of animal anthrax. Human behaviour has been implicated in this transmission. The objective of the study was to explore human behavioural patterns that may contribute to outbreaks of anthrax among affected communities.A mixed methods study was conducted in four districts of Zambia from November 2015 to February 2016. A cross sectional survey involving 1,127 respondents, six focus group discussions and seven key informant interviews with professional staff were conducted. Descriptive statistics on socio-demographic characteristics, awareness of anthrax, attitudes towards cattle vaccination and risk factors for anthrax and vaccination practices were run using STATA 12 for analysis.Overall, 88% of respondents heard about anthrax, 85.1% were aware that anthrax is transmitted by eating infected meat and 64.2% knew that animals and humans can be infected with anthrax. However, qualitative data suggested that awareness of anthrax varied across communities. Qualitative findings also indicated that, in Western and Muchinga provinces, human anthrax was transmitted by eating infected beef and hippo (Hippopotamus amphibious) meat, respectively. Although survey data indicated that 62.2% of respondents vaccinated their animals, qualitative interviews and annual vaccination reports indicated low vaccination rates, which were attributed to inadequate veterinary service provision and logistical challenges. While 82% of respondents indicated that they reported animal deaths to veterinary officers, only 13.5% of respondents buried infected carcasses. Majority (78.1%) of respondents either ate, sold or shared meat from dead animals with other community members. Poverty, lack of access to meat protein and economic reasons were cited as drivers for consuming infected meat.Health education campaigns must be intensified to reduce the risk of human exposure. Veterinary extension services should be strengthened and cold chain facilities decentralized in order to improve ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Doreen Chilolo Sitali Chisoni Mumba Eystein Skjerve Oliver Mweemba Consolata Kabonesa Mwinyi Omary Mwinyi Luke Nyakarahuka John Bwalya Muma |
author_facet |
Doreen Chilolo Sitali Chisoni Mumba Eystein Skjerve Oliver Mweemba Consolata Kabonesa Mwinyi Omary Mwinyi Luke Nyakarahuka John Bwalya Muma |
author_sort |
Doreen Chilolo Sitali |
title |
Awareness and attitudes towards anthrax and meat consumption practices among affected communities in Zambia: A mixed methods approach. |
title_short |
Awareness and attitudes towards anthrax and meat consumption practices among affected communities in Zambia: A mixed methods approach. |
title_full |
Awareness and attitudes towards anthrax and meat consumption practices among affected communities in Zambia: A mixed methods approach. |
title_fullStr |
Awareness and attitudes towards anthrax and meat consumption practices among affected communities in Zambia: A mixed methods approach. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Awareness and attitudes towards anthrax and meat consumption practices among affected communities in Zambia: A mixed methods approach. |
title_sort |
awareness and attitudes towards anthrax and meat consumption practices among affected communities in zambia: a mixed methods approach. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005580 https://doaj.org/article/8ce16e9c9b4049eb9b9f378553cc4bda |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 11, Iss 5, p e0005580 (2017) |
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http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5443538?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0005580 https://doaj.org/article/8ce16e9c9b4049eb9b9f378553cc4bda |
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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0005580 |
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PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
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