Abstract
Since the first detected African swine fever (ASF) cases in Lithuanian wild boar in 2014, the virus has occurred in many other member states of the European Union (EU), most recently in Belgium in 2018 and in Germany in 2020. Passive surveillance and various control measures are implemented as part of the strategy to stop disease spread in the wild boar population. Within this framework, hunters perform important activities, such as the removal of carcasses, fencing or hunting. Therefore, the successful implementation of these measures largely depends on their acceptability by hunters. Methods of participatory epidemiology can be used to determine the acceptance of control measures. The use of participatory methods allows the involvement of key stakeholders in the design, the implementation and the analysis of control and surveillance activities. In the present study, two studies that had been conducted using participatory epidemiology with hunters in Estonia and Latvia were compared on the topics recruitment, participants, facilitators, focus group discussion (FGDs) and their contents. The aim was to evaluate similarities and differences in the two studies and to identify a broader spectrum of possibilities to increase the willingness of hunters supporting the fight against ASF. Evaluating all conducted FGDs in both countries showed primarily similarities in the perceptions and opinions of the hunters in Estonia and Latvia. One notable difference was that passive surveillance in Latvia was perceived mostly as topic of duty and ethics rather than an issue driven by incentives. Participatory methods have proven to be an effective tool in the evaluation of the acceptance of established ASF control systems. The results of this study point out further chances for improving the cooperation with hunters in the future. Nevertheless, the importance of gathering and analyzing the opinions of hunters in all ASF affected countries individually is highlighted.
Highlights
The recent entry of African swine fever (ASF) into Germany in September 2020 showed that the ASF spread in the European Union has not yet come to a hold [1]
The success of ASF control measures and passive surveillance depends on the willingness of hunters to implement them [2, 11, 14]
It is of utmost importance that the national and international control of ASF focuses on identifying motivations or obstacles to support control measures and passive surveillance and, if necessary, on increasing the willingness of hunters to participate in these measures actively
Summary
The recent entry of African swine fever (ASF) into Germany in September 2020 showed that the ASF spread in the European Union has not yet come to a hold [1]. Hunters belong to the most important stakeholders in the implementation of ASF control measures in the wild boar population [11, 12]. Their regular presence in the forest, their experience and knowledge regarding local wildlife make them valuable partners with regard to control measures and passive surveillance. PE allows the involvement of stakeholders, e.g., in data collection or decision making on topics relevant for the community [11, 14, 17, 18] Participatory methods such as focus group discussions (FGDs) in combination with visualization or ranking and scoring tools are widely used in developing countries to support quantitative data generation in rural areas [13, 17, 19,20,21,22]. Despite its potential in considering issues from different points of view and implementing specific local measures avoiding unpopular approaches, PE has not frequently been used in developed countries so far [17, 23]
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