One Health profile of a community at the wildlife-domestic animal interface, Mpumalanga, South Africa

•Developed profile of a rural community bordering wildlife using One Health approach.•Education on animal health was desired despite limited understanding of zoonoses.•Domiciliary rodent sightings associated with animal ownership and household size.•Frequency of consumption of animal source foods as...

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Veröffentlicht in:Preventive veterinary medicine 2016-08, Vol.130, p.119-128
Hauptverfasser: Berrian, Amanda M., van Rooyen, Jacques, Martínez-López, Beatriz, Knobel, Darryn, Simpson, Gregory J.G., Wilkes, Michael S., Conrad, Patricia A.
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:•Developed profile of a rural community bordering wildlife using One Health approach.•Education on animal health was desired despite limited understanding of zoonoses.•Domiciliary rodent sightings associated with animal ownership and household size.•Frequency of consumption of animal source foods associated with animal ownership.•Favorable towards conservation but strong preference for separation from wildlife. We used a community engagement approach to develop a One Health profile of an agro-pastoralist population at the interface of wildlife areas in eastern South Africa. Representatives from 262 randomly-selected households participated in an in-person, cross-sectional survey. Questions were designed to ascertain the participants’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices with regard to human health, domestic animal health, and natural resources including wildlife and water. Surveys were conducted within four selected villages by a team of trained surveyors and translators over four weeks in July–August 2013. Questions were a combination of multiple choice (single answer), multiple selection, open-ended, and Likert scale. The study found that nearly three-quarters of all households surveyed reported owning at least one animal (55% owned chickens, 31% dogs, 25% cattle, 16% goats, 9% cats, and 5% pigs). Among the animal-owning respondents, health concerns identified included dissatisfaction with government-run cattle dip facilities (97%) and frequent morbidity and mortality of chickens that had clinical signs consistent with Newcastle disease (49%). Sixty-one percent of participants believed that diseases of animals could be transmitted to humans. Ninety-six percent of respondents desired greater knowledge about animal diseases. With regard to human health issues, the primary barrier to health care access was related to transportation to/from the community health clinics. Environmental health issues revealed by the survey included disparities by village in drinking water reliability and frequent domiciliary rodent sightings positively associated with increased household size and chicken ownership. Attitudes towards conservation were generally favorable; however, the community demonstrated a strong preference for a dichotomous approach to wildlife management, one that separated wildlife from humans. Due to the location of the community, which neighbors the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, and the livestock-dependent lifestyle of the resource-poor i
ISSN:0167-5877
1873-1716
DOI:10.1016/j.prevetmed.2016.06.007