Abstract
A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess cattle owners’ awareness, perceptions, attitudes and drug-usage practices with regard to bovine dermatophilosis. Knowledge of these farmers’ attributes is important for animal health policy makers in their endeavours to provide optimum disease control strategies that are acceptable to the communities. Data on cattle owner awareness of bovine dermatophilosis, causes, treatment practices, perceptions about its importance and potential dangers to humans were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. A total of 185 stockowners and cattle herds were involved in the study, with bovine dermatophilosis determined clinically by veterinarians. The results showed that 45.4% of the herds were clinically positive for dermatophilosis, and most farmers (79.5%) were generally aware that dermatophilosis was a cattle disease. In the event of a dermatophilosis outbreak in a herd, 74.1% of the farmers treated their cattle using antibiotics; the proportion of farmers treating cattle did not differ (p > 0.05) across the diptanks. Fifty-two farmers (52/63) indicated that drugs had to be administered four to seven times before an animal recovered from infection. Tetracyclines were the antibiotics used by most farmers (79.3%) to treat dermatophilosis, with 19.1% using penicillins. Concerns were raised by farmers about the effectiveness of these drugs against bovine dermatophilosis. Across the study sites, 48.6% and 27.6% of the farmers perceived bovine dermatophilosis to be an important disease at the herd and area level, respectively. A small proportion (12.4%) of the farmers regarded bovine dermatophilosis as a potentially zoonotic disease. The high level of stockowners’ general awareness, with regards to bovine dermatophilosis, sets ideal conditions for the mobilisation of farmers by animal health authorities in the control of the disease. However, further research needs to be undertaken to investigate effective antibiotic delivery protocols and the potential zoonotic impact of bovine dermatophilosis in a situation of high disease prevalence.
Highlights
Bovine dermatophilosis is an important disease of cattle in Africa, it was first reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( Belgian Congo) in 1915 (Oppong 1996) and has been reported in most countries in the African continent (Hamid & Musa 2009), including Zimbabwe (Chatikobo et al 2009; Ndhlovu & Masika 2015)
Eighty-four (45.4%) stockowners interviewed had at least one herd of cattle that had clinical bovine dermatophilosis diagnosed by a veterinarian
Most (> 50%) of the farmers from three diptanks, namely Chemawororo, Gwanyika and Koronika, had heard/were generally aware about bovine dermatophilosis, whilst at Chivero diptank less than 20% of the farmers were aware of the disease (Table 2)
Summary
Bovine dermatophilosis is an important disease of cattle in Africa, it was first reported in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( Belgian Congo) in 1915 (Oppong 1996) and has been reported in most countries in the African continent (Hamid & Musa 2009), including Zimbabwe (Chatikobo et al 2009; Ndhlovu & Masika 2015). The disease can occur in tick-free animals, but it is more severe in those that are infested by Amblyomma variegatum ticks (Stachurski, Zoungrana & Konkobo 2010). Walker (1996) stated that the role of A. variegatum in the development of dermatophilosis was through immunosuppression, a fact further supported by Estrada-Pena et al (2007). In other parts of Africa, it has frustrated the introduction of exotic breeds to improve meat and milk production (Koney 1996)
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