Rabies prevention and control practices and associated factors among dog owners in Chiro, West Hararghe, Ethiopia

Rabies is among the most deadly and fatal diseases of all human diseases, once clinical symptoms appear. In developing countries, including Ethiopia, rabies prevention and control practices is not adequate. The study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude, and practices toward rabies prevention and control and identified factors associated with prevention and control practices.

A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July 30 to August 30, 2021. A total of 326 dog-owner households were selected from the total number of 6500 dog-owner households using a simple random sampling method. Pretested and structured questionnaire were used to collect the data. The sections of the questionnaire includes socio-demographic, knowledge, attitude, and practice toward rabies prevention practices, and health and personal-related characteristics of the participants. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 24. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression were used to determine the association variables. Finally, a p-value of less than 0.05 was considered as a cut-off point for statistical significance.

Of 326 households involved in the study, 52.8% of the participants were found to have poor rabies prevention and control practices. More than half (52.1%) of the respondents had good knowledge of rabies prevention and control practices, and 49.1% had a positive attitude. Only 28.2% of the respondents reported a history of dog bites. Factors associated with good rabies prevention and control practices were; having good knowledge of human rabies virus [(Adjusted Odd Ratio (AOR) = 2.41 (95% CI: 2.25-4.83)], having good attitude on prevention and control [AOR = 2.06 (95% CI: 1.95-3.82)], having only one dog per household [AOR = 2.46 (95% CI: 1.25-4.83)], availability of vet clinic within 30 min distance from residents [AOR = 9.32 (95% CI: 4.19-20.70)], and getting health information from Mass media [AOR = 3.68(95% CI: 1.74-7.77)] or Health workers [AOR = 3.16 (95% CI: 1.60-6.23)].

More than half (52.1%) of the participants had poor rabies prevention and control practices. Improving rabies prevention and control practices through improving the knowledge and attitude of the community is important to protect public health.