Assessing and comparing disease prevention knowledge, attitudes, and practices among veterinarians in Illinois, United States of America

Abstract

Veterinarians play an essential role in safeguarding and promoting animal and human health by timely reporting of notifiable diseases to animal and public health agencies and by educating animal owners on effective disease prevention measures. Moreover, clinical veterinarians can prevent the transmission and spread of zoonotic diseases by adopting effective biosecurity practices in their clinics.An online questionnaire was administered between October and November 2021 to veterinarians registered with the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association. Veterinarians were surveyed on their disease risk perception, biosecurity practices, and disease reporting knowledge. In total, 104 veterinarians (64 % females and 46 % males) completed the questionnaire, of whom 88 % were veterinarians working in clinical practice (88 % companion animals and 12 % bovine or swine), while 12 % were employed in non-clinical settings. The disease-reporting knowledge score was higher for veterinarians with biosecurity training (IRR: 1.35; 95 % CI: 1.47–1.75). Compared to large animal veterinarians, companion animal veterinarians had lower odds of having biosecurity training (OR=0.68; 95 % CI=0.02–0.28) and were less familiar with current biosecurity guidelines (OR=0.12; 95 % CI = 0.03–0.51). Veterinarians familiar with biosecurity guidelines had a higher probability (OR=4.4; 95 % CI: 1.21–16.28) of perceiving biosecurity practices as practical while working with animals. Conversely, veterinarians who perceived that they could transmit diseases to animals had lower odds (OR: 0.42; 95 % CI: 0.20–0.91) of wearing protective clothing while dealing with confirmed cases of zoonotic diseases.Based on our study results, a gap in disease-reporting knowledge was identified among companion animal veterinarians. Biosecurity training improved the disease-reporting knowledge of veterinarians, suggesting that providing continuing education for veterinarians would be beneficial to disease reporting. A disconnect between disease risk perception and biosecurity practices was identified and further studies are needed to understand this discrepancy to design effective education programs.