Determinants and barriers to rabies prevention and control in Manyinga and Mwansabombwe districts of Zambia.
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Date
2024
Authors
Misapa, Muma Chipo
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia
Abstract
Rabies persists as a long-standing issue in Zambia, despite being preventable. The current control measures, including dog vaccination, population control, and movement restriction, guided by Zambia's Dog Control Act, have not yielded the desired impact in Manyinga and Mwansabombwe districts. These areas continue to report low dog vaccination percentages, unrestricted dog movements, and escalating cases of animal and human rabies, along with dog bites. Aligned with global aspirations to achieve zero human rabies cases from dog-mediated rabies by 2030, this study scrutinizes the determinants and obstacles hampering the execution of rabies prevention and control initiatives in Manyinga and Mwansabombwe. Spanning approximately 11 months, this cross-sectional study targeted a population of 48,181 in Manyinga and 35,546 in Mwansabombwe were pre- and post-vaccination data from 301 households in Manyinga and 100 households in Mwansabombwe was collected. Using pretested structured questionnaire, including closed and open-ended questions we probed knowledge, attitudes and practices related to rabies prevention and control.The questionnaire comprised 10 questions on rabies knowledge, 3 questions on practices, 2 questions on attitudes, and general follow-up questions. A transect survey, key informant interviews, and assessment of rabies vaccination and dog bite records complemented the data collection. IBM SPSS Statistics version 26.0 was used for a comprehensive thematic analysis were cross tabulations and Pearson’s Chi Square were performed. Findings revealed that 68% of respondents in Manyinga and 84% in Mwansabombwe possessed knowledge about rabies, confirming affected species and transmission. Moreover, 76.8% in Manyinga and 88.6% in Mwansabombwe were acquainted with rabies prevention and control methods. Concerning
dog owners, 89% were aware of rabies, 66% understood its prevention and control, and the majority identified bites as the primary mode of transmission. Vaccination coverage stood at 64% in Manyinga and 21% in Mwansabombwe. Notably, education and occupation exhibited
significant associations with rabies knowledge. On the attitudes and practices on rabies vaccination 51.82% in Manyinga and 72.09% in Mwansabombwe of the dog owning respondents had valid rabies vaccination. And only 55% in Mwansabombwe and 70% in Manyinga washed the wound, visited the veterinary office and went to the hospital after a dog bite. Manyinga recorded low numbers on vaccinated dogs with valid vaccinations which is a risk to the community because majority of the dogs were not protected against rabies. Also, the two districts had beliefs which hindered the community from having their dogs vaccinated. The key informants were well vested with rabies and their role in rabies prevention, however, they faced a lot of challenges due to understaffing, lack of resources and community practices. The study underscores critical knowledge gaps which affected the practices and attitudes towards rabies prevention and control and emphasizes the need for enhanced education, awareness programs, improved rabies surveillance, free mass vaccination campaigns, and community engagement to augment vaccination coverage and knowledge about rabies.
Key words: Rabies, Prevention, control, vaccination, barriers, determinants
Description
Thesis of Master of Science in Epidemiology by Research.