Abstract
Brucellosis is a priority zoonotic disease in Tanzania that causes ill-health in people and affects livestock productivity. Inadequate awareness and behavior risking transmission can impede control efforts. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 333 livestock owners in three villages in the Kilombero district, Tanzania, to understand their awareness, knowledge and behavior associated with brucellosis. Six Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), two in each village, were conducted, as well as an additional FGD with male herders from one of the villages. Factors associated with knowledge on brucellosis, food consumption and animal husbandry behavior risking transmission of this disease, were identified using generalized linear models. Predictors for knowledge of brucellosis were being male and having a higher educational level, while age was positively associated with a higher level of knowledge. Faith and ethnicity were associated with the performance of practices risking transmission. Following traditional religion and belonging to the Wamaasai ethnicity significantly increased the odds of carrying out these practices. Qualitative analysis gave insight into risk practices and reasoning. Of the 333 respondents, 29% reported that they had experienced abortions in their herds, 14% witnessed retained placentas, and 8% had seen still-births in their cattle within the previous year. However, survey results also showed that only 7.2% of participants had heard about brucellosis as a disease in livestock. Of those who had heard about brucellosis in livestock, 91% associated abortions with it and 71% knew that humans can get infected through raw milk consumption. People overwhelmingly attributed symptoms and transmission of brucellosis in livestock to infection with trypanosomiasis and to supernatural reasons instead. In the community, consumption of raw milk was valued and handling of aborted material was not considered a risk for infection. This agro-pastoralist community holds on to long-held beliefs and practices and lacks understanding of the biomedical concept of brucellosis. Transmission routes and symptoms of brucellosis in humans and livestock are completely unknown. The disparity between risk perception and actual transmission risk related to animal handling and consumption of animal products presents a challenge for disease awareness communication. This study recommends focused community engagement and sensitization to address the limited awareness and misconceptions among agro-pastoralists.
Highlights
Brucellosis is a serious bacterial disease, transmitted from livestock to humans through direct contact with animal birth or abortion materials or via the consumption of raw milk, meat or blood [1, 2]
Our study has found a mismatch between real transmission risk and its perception by the communities, making risk communication as part of control efforts very difficult
Brucellosis is largely unknown and its symptoms are not considered a big problem by the livestock keepers in the Kilombero district, Tanzania
Summary
Brucellosis is a serious bacterial disease, transmitted from livestock to humans through direct contact with animal birth or abortion materials or via the consumption of raw milk, meat or blood [1, 2]. As a neglected zoonotic disease, it is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, parts of Europe and Latin America and is responsible for up to 500,000 human cases each year [3, 4] It presents as a non-specific febrile illness in humans, commonly including body aches and headache, but can become chronic and cause more severe illnesses [5]. The Brucella species, B. melitensis, which has the highest pathogenicity and infectiousness, and B. abortus, have been identified as the cause for most human cases [4] Human behavior, such as handling livestock birth material and consuming raw animal products, has a fundamental role in the transmission of brucellosis to people [7]. Brucellosis in humans can be acquired via direct contact with infected animals through skin abrasions or inhalation of infected aerosols [3, 4, 7]
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