Abstract
BackgroundRabies remains endemic to the Harare Metropolitan Province of Zimbabwe, with a lack of public participations potentially contributing to the limited success in eliminating the disease. We hypothesized that rabies intervention campaigns were less successful than they could be as a result of poor understanding of the disease at the community level, and thus aimed to identify the knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards rabies in the province.MethodsA cross-sectional survey, using a semi-structured questionnaire, was implemented between January 2017 and June 2018 across the province and data were collected from 798 respondents. Frequency distributions and logistic regressions were undertaken to determine the factors associated with the adequacy of the prevailing rabies knowledge, pet ownership characteristics and the existing preventative practices.ResultsThe results of our study suggested that the majority of the respondents (92%) had heard of rabies. However, the level of rabies knowledge could be classified as “adequate” in only 36% of respondents. The multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that pet ownership and type of occupation were statistically associated with a better understanding and knowledge of the disease. Off all the respondents, 49% owned at least one dog or cat and suburb density and occupation were statistically associated with owning a pet. Amongst the pet owners, 57% consulted an animal health practitioner at least once a year and 75% were aware of a rabies vaccine for their pets. The multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that age, education and gender were statistically associated with pet owners taking their pet(s) to an animal clinic.ConclusionThis study showed that the majority of the respondents lacked comprehensive knowledge about rabies, with the knowledge pertaining to health seeking behaviour and the importance of rabies vaccination being the most lacking. Additional public education relying on key messages, aimed at the different target audiences, is required in the province.
Highlights
Rabies, caused primarily by the Rabies lyssavirus (RABV), is a neglected zoonotic disease that is transmitted mainly by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) [1]
Rabies remains endemic to the Harare Metropolitan Province of Zimbabwe, with a lack of public participations potentially contributing to the limited success in eliminating the disease
The results of our study suggested that the majority of the respondents (92%) had heard of rabies
Summary
Rabies, caused primarily by the Rabies lyssavirus (RABV), is a neglected zoonotic disease that is transmitted mainly by domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) [1]. In the rabies-endemic country of Zimbabwe, it is estimated that more than 400 people succumb to dog-mediated rabies annually [2] These human rabies cases are mostly limited to the rural areas of the country, rabies was first detected in Zimbabwe’s most densely populated urban province (the Harare Metropolitan Province (HMP)) in 2010 [3]. Since it had become endemic and 459 animal rabies cases had been recorded within the province between 2010 and 2019 [4]. We hypothesized that rabies intervention campaigns were less successful than they could be as a result of poor understanding of the disease at the community level, and aimed to identify the knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards rabies in the province.
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