Knowledge, attitude and practices of poultry handlers towards avian influenza in communities surrounding L. Victoria, Uganda

Abstract

Introduction: Avian influenza (AI) disease causes huge losses to the poultry industry as well as human life. One of the key drivers to AI disease outbreak is the inadequate knowledge among communities that are at risk. Therefore, awareness creation is critical in the control of the disease. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) of poultry handlers towards AI disease in at risk communities surrounding Lake Victoria. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among poultry handlers using structured questionnaires. Respondents’ knowledge was described using a two group levels; good and poor knowledge. Knowledge was scored as follows; ≥ 7 points (more than 7 correctly answered questions) for good knowledge and ≤ 6 points (less than 6 currently answered questions) for poor knowledge. Attitude scores were based on four statements from the questionnaires whether respondents agreed or disagreed to them. Those who agreed to statements were categorized as having positive attitude while those who disagreed to statements were categorized as having negative attitude. Practices were assessed using a set of 17 behavioral statements. A respondent who reported to execute the behavior was scored 1 while a respondent who did not report to execute the behavior was scored 0. Whoever answered 9 and above questions was categorized to have positive practices. Whoever scored a total of 8 and less questions was categorized to have negative practices. A negative practice indicated risky behaviors or habits and was graded 0-8 points while a high score was indicative of positive practices graded 9-17 points. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were used to collect qualitative data and were analyzed using content data analysis. Frequency tables and bar graphs were constructed to show distribution of respondent’s characteristics and a Chi square test was used to compare poultry handlers KAP against socio-demographic characteristics with a level of significance set at α ≤0.05. A bivariate and multivariate analysis was carried out to examine the relationship between the primary outcome variable (KAP) and the related predictors. Results: Of the 426 participants, (199/426, 47 %) were female. Catholics formed the highest number of participants (150/426, 35 %). The biggest number of participants came from Katabi Sub County (331/427, 77%).Overall, (126/426, 30%) had good knowledge about AI disease prevention and control. Regarding attitudes, (402/426, 94%) of participants had a positive attitude towards AI prevention and control and considered AI a serious disease. Most participants 70% agreed to practice safer activities towards the prevention and control of AI. In the multivariate analysis, being a protestant and having attained tertiary education were found to be statistically significant factors influencing knowledge of poultry handlers at 0.037 and 0.045 respectively (p≤0.05). From the qualitative results, extent of seriousness of AI, the need for more information, sheltering of poultry from other wild animals and carrying out routine disinfection of poultry houses were outstanding concerns of poultry handlers. Conclusion and Recommendation: Although most poultry handlers agreed to have vaccinated their poultry because they believed that AI was a serious disease, general knowledge about the disease and its zoonotic nature was low. This study recommends providing at risk communities with more knowledge on the prevention and control of AI disease.