Assessment of Public Awareness on Common Zoonotic Diseases in Lalo Kile District, Kellem Wollega Zone, Ethiopia

Abstract

A questionnaire based cross sectional survey was conducted to assess the awareness of the community about common zoonotic diseases in Lalo Kile District, Kellem Wollega Zone, Ethiopia. A total of 440 (292 male and 148 female) respondents were participated during the interview. A structured questionnaire was prepared and used to ask the respondents categorized into different levels about their knowledge and awareness on common zoonotic diseases in the area. From the total respondent category 82.50% have awareness on rabies, 81.82% have a concept about taeniasis, 81.36% know about bovine tuberculosis, 79.55% know about anthrax and 72.05% know about hydatidosis. These respondents have a concept about transmission, clinical signs, effect and way of control and prevention of the common zoonotic diseases. From the different category of the respondents, educational level and occupational status are statistically significant (P<0.05). 83.86% and 86.36% of the respondents consume raw meat and raw milk, respectively. Most of the respondents know that zoonotic diseases can be transmitted from animals to human, but very few of them know that the disease can be transmitted from human to animals. Therefore, the general continuous awareness creation and teaching of the community about zoonotic disease is very important.