Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Health Care Providers' Knowledge and Practice Gap towards Joint Zoonotic Disease Surveillance System: Challenges and Opportunities, Gomma District, Southwest Ethiopia.
- Journal:
- BioMed research international
- Year:
- 2016
- Authors:
- Gemeda, Desta Hiko et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Epidemiology
Plain-English summary
This study looked at how well health care providers in Southwest Ethiopia understand and practice joint surveillance for diseases that can spread between animals and humans, like rabies and anthrax. Out of 323 health care providers surveyed, most believed that both human and animal health sectors should work together to monitor these diseases, and many thought they could do this effectively. However, only a small number reported that their sectors had actually worked together on this, mainly during outbreaks. While the providers showed good knowledge about the importance of collaboration, their actual practice was lacking. The study suggests that a formal system for joint surveillance is needed to improve how these diseases are monitored.
Abstract
Background. Health care providers play a crucial role for realization of joint zoonotic diseases surveillance by human and animal health sectors, yet there is limited evidence. Hence, this study aimed to determine knowledge and practice gap of health care providers towards the approach for Rabies and Anthrax in Southwest Ethiopia. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from December 16, 2014, to January 14, 2015. Eligible health care providers were considered for the study. Data were entered in to Epi-data version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results. A total of 323 (92.02%) health care providers participated in the study. Three hundred sixteen (97.8%) of participants reported that both human and animal health sectors can work together for zoonotic diseases while 96.9% of them replied that both sectors can jointly conduct surveillance. One hundred seventeen (36.2%) of them reported that their respective sectors had conducted joint surveillance for zoonotic diseases. Their involvement was, however, limited to joint outbreak response. Conclusion. There is good opportunity in health care providers' knowledge even though the practice was unacceptably low and did not address all surveillance components. Therefore, formal joint surveillance structure should be in place for optimal implementation of surveillance.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27579311/