scholarly journals Knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding rabies and its control among dog owners in Kigali city, Rwanda

PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. e0210044 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Ntampaka ◽  
P. N. Nyaga ◽  
F. Niragire ◽  
J. K. Gathumbi ◽  
M. Tukei
2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 1523-1531
Author(s):  
Amanda Gabriela De Carvalho ◽  
João Gabriel Guimarães Luz ◽  
Luane Dantas Rodrigues ◽  
João Victor Leite Dias ◽  
Cor Jesus Fernandes Fontes

Introduction: This cross-sectional study evaluated the impact of socioeconomic status on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) concerning zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis (VL) among dog owners from the municipality of Rondonópolis—a highly endemic area for the disease in Central-Western Brazil. Methodology: Data were collected between 2016 and 2017 during a household survey. A probabilistic sample of 404 dog owners were interviewed assessing sociodemographic characteristics, previous occurrence of VL cases, and KAP about human VL, vector, and canine VL. Responses regarding KAP were compared among social classes, which are indicators of socioeconomic status. Correct/appropriate answers were scored, and a multivariate Poisson regression analysis evaluated the impact of social class on scoring. Results: The overall KAP regarding VL was limited. Dog owners from higher social classes differed from those of the lower classes regarding the recognition of abdominal distension (p = 0.026) and skin lesions (p < 0.001) as clinical manifestations of human and canine VL, respectively, knowledge of VL transmission (p = 0.020), use of topical repellents (p < 0.001), use of insecticide-impregnated collars (p = 0.003), and previous attempts of treatment for canine VL (p = 0.005). Higher scores were associated with the upper social classes (IRR = 1.18; CI = 1.08-1.29) adjusted by the age (IRR = 1.13; CI = 1.04-1.24) and the previous occurrence of human (IRR = 1.21; CI = 1.07-1.36) and canine (IRR = 1.25; CI = 1.14-1.36) VL in the household/neighbourhood of the respondents. Conclusions: Improved KAP concerning VL was associated with better socioeconomic status of dog owners.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pie Ntampaka ◽  
Philip Njeru Nyaga ◽  
James Kinuthia Gathumbi ◽  
Michael Tukei ◽  
François Niragire

Background: Rabies is a zoonotic viral disease that can occur in all warm-blooded mammals, including man [1]. Vaccinating dogs can protect people from contracting rabies [2]. Annual deaths due to rabies was estimated to 61000 worldwide [1], and Africa represented 35.2% of the deaths [3]. In Rwanda, rabies is a public health threat to the public [4], but the country does not have information on the disease [5]. Methodology: The present study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of rabies and its control among dog owners in Kigali city, Rwanda. We conducted a cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire among 137 dog owners randomly selected within each of the selected 9 study sites. A series of chi-square tests of association and binary logistic regression were used to determine the important factors associated with the response variables. Results: The results showed that 99.5% of respondents could mention at least a host susceptible to rabies. Only 22.4 % and 21.3 % knew about canine and human rabies, respectively. Nearly 73.6% knew that human rabies can be transmitted through dog-bites and 99% could identify at least a clinical sign of canine rabies. Nealy 81.8% thought that regularly vaccinating dogs could prevent people from contracting dog-transmitted rabies. Only 43.1% and 26.3% were aware that clinical human and canine rabies are always deadly, respectively. Respondents who would observe a dog for some time, once it bites a man or an animal, represented 69%. Only 20.4% were familiar with cleaning dog-bites wounds with water and soap, before attending health care facilities. Few respondents owning dogs (20.6%) knew that puppies could receive rabies vaccination before the age of three months. Of respondents who owned vaccinated dogs, 78% were happy about the cost of rabies vaccination of dogs (Rwandan Francs 0-30,000). Nearly 57.9% had their dogs vaccinated at home by veterinarians. Eighty-two (82%) percent of respondents received rabies information from neighbours, the media and public meetings. Logistic regression analyses indicated that none of respondents’sex, education level, and duration of dog ownership was statistically associated with their knowledge of rabies. The respondents who had kept dogs for 5-10 years were less likely to have as sufficient knowledge as those who had kept dogs for more than ten years (AOR=0.96). Male respondents were more likely to adopt a positive attitude (AOR=1.47) and have appropriate practice (AOR=1.40) towards rabies. The respondents who had completed at least primary education, were more likely to have appropriate practice of rabies (AOR=1.41). Conclusions: This study identified gaps in the dog owners’ rabies knowledge of transmission, treatment and control. In addition, none of respondents’sex, educational level, and dog ownership length was statistically associated with their rabies knowledge. Overall, this study indicated that all categories of dog owners in Kigali city did not have good levels of rabies knowledge. Rabies interventions including awareness component in the studied population should be homogeneously improved.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sith Premashthira ◽  
Sarin Suwanpakdee ◽  
Weerapong Thanapongtharm ◽  
Onpawee Sagarasaeranee ◽  
Weerakorn Thichumpa ◽  
...  

Rabies is a deadly zoonotic disease responsible for almost 60,000 deaths each year, especially in Africa and Asia including Thailand. Dogs are the major reservoirs for rabies virus in these settings. This study thus used the concept of knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) to identify socioeconomic factors that contribute to the differences in the canine rabies occurrences in high and low-risk areas which were classified by a Generalized Additive Model (GAM). Multistage sampling was then applied to designate the study locations and a KAP-based questionnaire was used to retrieve data and relevant perspectives from the respondents. Based on the responses from 476 participants living across four regions of Thailand, we found that the knowledge of the participants was positively correlated with their behaviors but negatively associated with the attitudes. Participants who are male, younger, educated at the level of middle to high school, or raising more dogs are likely to have negative attitudes but good knowledge on rabies prevention and control whereas farmers with lower income had better attitudes regardless of their knowledge. We found that people in a lower socioeconomic status with a lack of knowledge are not willing to pay at a higher vaccine price. Public education is a key to change dog owners' behaviors. Related authorities should constantly educate people on how to prevent and control rabies in their communities. Our findings should be applicable to other countries with similar socioeconomic statuses.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rona P. Bernales ◽  
Ilene S. Basitan

This study was conducted in selected provinces of Bicol Region from April 2015 to May 2015 to describe the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of dog owners regarding rabies and dog bites. A purposive sampling was used in selecting the respondents of the study. Frequencies were tabulated for all variables. Of the 1,200 respondents, 2,193 dogs were recorded making a 2:1 ratio of dogs to householders in this particular study. Among these dogs 58% were vaccinated against rabies. The majority of the ones taking care of the dogs were female (57.3%) but the primary owner (62.9%) was the head of the family. Only 34.7% of the respondents knew that it is their duty to get their pets vaccinated against rabies. Around one-fourth (20.7%) admitted that someone in their household had been bitten by a dog but most respondents (62.5%) did nothing to the dog. The majority (57.7%) of the bite victims were youths (1-14 years old) and almost all (82.7%) of the wound bites were washed with soap and water. Television (44.9%) was the primary source of knowledge about rabies. The majority of participants (67.3%) said that humans are the main end-hosts that can be infected with rabies. Salivation or drooling (42.7%) and craziness (34.2%) were the main signs cited as behaviour of rabid dogs while craziness (40.2%) and hydrophobia or fear of water (25.4%) were cited for rabid humans. Most (33.9%) do not know the source of rabies but the majority (61.8%) believe that vaccination is the main preventive measure against rabies. The majority of participants (63%) reported that the local ordinances regarding rabies in their locality is about the Local Anti-Rabies Act and almost all (93.2%) admitted that vaccination is the most common anti-rabies program of the government.


2020 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ligia B. da Silva ◽  
Mariana Gabriel ◽  
Márcia M. Marques ◽  
Fernanda C. Carrer ◽  
Flávia Gonçalves ◽  
...  

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