Public Awareness and Practices of Pastoral and Agro Pastoral Community Towards Zoonotic Brucella Infection in Afar Regional State of North East Ethiopia
Camel brucellosis represents a major public health hazard, which affects social and economic development in various developing countries including the pastoral areas of Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine public awareness, attitude and practices of the pastoralists, agro pastoralists, animal health assistants and human health professionals towards zoonotic Brucella infection in the region using a questionnaire. A total of 168 respondents (56 individuals from each district) were interviewed. According to the logistic regression analysis, Literacy was found statistically significant (PBrucella infection. Moreover, out of the 112 human health professionals included in the study, only 14 (12.5%) had knowledge on zoonotic Brucella infection. But none of them had ever diagnosed the disease in humans and the reason for the diagnosis problem was lack of facility and no attention was given to the disease. The questionnaire survey revealed that there was a knowledge gap not only in the community but also in the human health professionals about zoonotic Brucella infection in the study areas. Even though the animal health assistants had better awareness about the disease, they did not collaborate with human health professionals to create awareness to the community and to prevent the disease. Therefore, Public education on modern animal husbandry, disease prevention and risk of zoonotic Brucella infection should be imparted continuously.