Awareness of zoonoses among smallholder
livestock producers in Ethiopia
Hiwot Desta, Biruk Alemu, Wole Kinati, Annet Mulema and
Barbara Wieland
15th International Symposium of Veterinary Epidemiology and
Economics Chiang Mai, Thailand, 12-16 November 2018

Background
• Small ruminants key for livelihoods of smallholder farmers
• Close interactions of people with livestock
• High level of zoonotic diseases

Division of labour
How important are livestock-keeping cultures
and traditions in the transmission of zoonoses?

Objectives
This study aimed at
• Understand the risk of exposure to different zoonoses
by different household members
• Assess awareness of zoonoses among household
members
• Identify the zoonosis risks related to division of labour
in livestock management

Materials and methods
o 92 FGDs conducted with
women, men, young women
and young men in Oromia,
Tigray, Amhara and SNNPR
regions
o Participatory tools: simple
ranking and proportional
piling
o Disease priorities
o Division of labour

Materials and methods
Household survey
o 430 households involved
o 217 men and 213 women
interviewed
o Questions on zoonoses knowledge
o Diseases that transmit from animals to
people
o Transmission pathways

Results FGDs
Disease Priorities
• Coenurosis, respiratory diseases, sheep
and goat pox, fasciolosis and foot rot
were the most important diseases
• Only few zoonoses mentioned among
important diseases:
• Anthrax and Orf by 21 FGD each
o 9 men and 12 women FGD
mentioned Anthrax
o 11 men and 10 women FGD
mentioned Orf

Reasons for prioritizing disease
 risk of disease transmission to people
rarely mentioned as a reason for
prioritizing (9 FGDs): more often by
women FGD, and FGDs in pastoralist
areas

Low awareness of zoonotic diseases was confirmed in the
household survey:
• 197 (45.8%) of respondents were aware and able to name a
zoonotic disease
o 100 (50.8%) were men
o 97 (49.2%)were women
Household survey
Awareness of zoonotic diseases and transmission

Awareness of zoonoses
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
consumptionmilk&meat
contactwound/feaces
contactwithrabidanimal
dogbite
inhalation/air
consumptionmilk&meat
contactwound/feaces
contactwithrabidanimal
dogbite
inhalation/air
Men Women
No.ofrespondents
Anthrax TB Rabies
Other misperceptions: non-zoonotic diseases identified
as risk for human health (resp. diseases, PPR

Division of labour
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14
Slaughter
Assist delivery
Breeding
Marketing
Herding
Coordinate veterinary input
Caring for sick animals
Cleaning barns
Feeding and watering
Contribution of men and women to small ruminant management in
Ethiopia
(score out of 20, other household members not shown)
Women Men

Zoonosis and division of labor
Brucellosis, Chlamydiosis, Q fever,
Anthrax, Orf
Campylobacter, Orf
Anthrax, Salmonella, E coli

Zoonosis and division of labor
Toxoplasmosis, Q fever,
Anthrax, Leptospirosis Anthrax, Leptospirosis,
Campylobacter
Chlamydiosis, Q fever, Anthrax, Orf
 The above practices, in addition to poor knowledge,
lead to occupational exposure and foodborne zoonotic
risks

Anthrax, Brucellosis,
Q-fever, Orf,
Leptospirosis
Children are especially
vulnerable:
• Less knowledge
• Close contact to
livestock
• Consumption of raw
milk

Conclusions
• Low awareness of zoonoses in general and the transmission
ways
• Mode of disease transmission often have gender dimensions in
relation to division of labour
• There is a need for improving household's knowledge of
zoonoses and associated risks
• Improve awareness on the risks of transmission and promote
behavior change towards zoonotic disease transmission risk
o Knowledge alone not sufficient (p.e. Anthrax)
o Community conversation as a gender transformative approach
promising results so far

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by IFAD SmaRT Project, Africa RISING Project, and
CGIAR Research Program on Livestock
Implemented in partnership with
• ICARDA, Regional Research Centers (DBARC, SDARC, YPDARC,
BongaARC, AbergelleARC, BakoARC, ArekaARC), Mada Walabu
University and Agricultural Offices in the project sites

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