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Assessment of community awareness and risk perceptions of zoonotic causes of abortion in cattle at three selected livestock-wildlife interface areas of Zimbabwe.

ABSTRACT: A study was conducted to assess the awareness of cattle abortions due to brucellosis, Rift Valley fever (RVF) and leptospirosis, and to compare frequencies of reported abortions in communities living at the periphery of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area in southeastern Zimbabwe. Three study sites were selected based on the type of livestock-wildlife interface: porous livestock-wildlife interface (unrestricted); non-porous livestock-wildlife interface (restricted by fencing); and livestock-wildlife non-interface (totally absent or control). Respondents randomly selected from a list of potential cattle farmers (N = 379) distributed at porous (40·1%), non-interface (35·5%) and non-porous (26·4%), were interviewed using a combined close- and open-ended questionnaire. Focus group discussions were conducted with 10-12 members of each community. More abortions in the last 5 years were reported from the porous interface (52%) and a significantly higher per cent of respondents from the porous interface (P < 0·05) perceived wildlife as playing a role in livestock abortions compared with the other interface types. The odds of reporting abortions in cattle were higher in large herd sizes (odds ratio (OR) = 2·6; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1·5-4·3), porous (OR = 1·9; 95% CI 1·0-3·5) and non-porous interface (OR = 2·2; 95% CI 1·1-4·3) compared with livestock-wildlife non-interface areas. About 21·6% of the respondents knew brucellosis as a cause of abortion, compared with RVF (9·8%) and leptospirosis (3·7%). These results explain to some extent, the existence of human/wildlife conflict in the studied livestock-wildlife interface areas of Zimbabwe, which militates against biodiversity conservation efforts. The low awareness of zoonoses means the public is at risk of contracting some of these infections. Thus, further studies should focus on livestock-wildlife interface areas to assess if the increased rates of abortions reported in cattle may be due to exposure to wildlife or other factors. The government of Zimbabwe needs to launch educational programmes on public health awareness in these remote areas at the periphery of transfrontier conservation areas where livestock-wildlife interface exists to help mitigate the morbidity and mortality of people from some of the known zoonotic diseases.

SUBMITTER: Ndengu M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9203295 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:IntroductionUnderstanding multi-pathogen infections/exposures in livestock is critical to inform prevention and control measures against infectious diseases. We investigated the co-exposure of foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV), Brucella spp., Leptospira spp., and Coxiella burnetii in cattle in three zones stratified by land use change and with different wildlife-livestock interactions in Narok county, Kenya. We also assessed potential risk factors associated with the transmission of these pathogens in cattle.MethodsWe identified five villages purposively, two each for areas with intensive (zone 1) and moderate wildlife-livestock interactions (zone 2) and one for locations with low wildlife-livestock interactions (zone 3). We sampled 1,170 cattle from 390 herds through a cross-sectional study and tested the serum samples for antibodies against the focal pathogens using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. A questionnaire was administered to gather epidemiological data on the putative risk factors associated with cattle's exposure to the investigated pathogens. Data were analyzed using the Bayesian hierarchical models with herd number as a random effect to adjust for the within-herd clustering of the various co-exposures among cattle.ResultsOverall, 88.0% (95% CI: 85.0-90.5) of the cattle tested positive for at least one of the targeted pathogens, while 41.7% (95% CI: 37.7-45.8) were seropositive to at least two pathogens. FMDV and Brucella spp. had the highest co-exposure at 33.7% (95% CI: 30.9-36.5), followed by FMDV and Leptospira spp. (21.8%, 95% CI: 19.5-24.4), Leptospira spp. and Brucella spp. (8.8%, 95% CI: 7.2-10.6), FMDV and C. burnetii (1.5%, 95% CI: 0.7-2.8), Brucella spp. and C. burnetii (1.0%, 95% CI: 0.3-2.2), and lowest for Leptospira spp. and C. burnetii (0.3%, 95% CI: 0.0-1.2). Cattle with FMDV and Brucella spp., and Brucella spp. and Leptospira spp. co-exposures and those simultaneously exposed to FMDV, Brucella spp. and Leptospira spp. were significantly higher in zone 1 than in zones 2 and 3. However, FMDV and Leptospira spp. co-exposure was higher in zones 1 and 2 than zone 3.Discussion/conclusionWe recommend the establishment of a One Health surveillance system in the study area to reduce the morbidity of the targeted zoonotic pathogens in cattle and the risks of transmission to humans.

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Assessment of community awareness and risk perceptions of zoonotic causes of abortion in cattle at three selected livestock-wildlife interface areas of Zimbabwe.

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