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Awareness and Practices Relating to Zoonotic Diseases Among Smallholder Farmers in Nepal

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Abstract

Increasing livestock production to meet growing demands has resulted in greater interactions at the livestock–wildlife–human interface and more opportunities for zoonotic disease spread. Zoonoses impose enormous burdens on low-income countries like Nepal, where populations are largely dependent on livestock production and access to shared grazing lands, often near protected areas, due to population pressures. Several livestock-associated zoonoses have been reported in Nepal; however, little is known regarding Nepali farmers’ knowledge of zoonoses and opportunities for disease management. We conducted a cross-sectional study to investigate Nepali farmers’ awareness of zoonoses, assess current health challenges, and evaluate disease prevention and control practices. We found that awareness of zoonotic pathogens was limited, especially in informally educated and illiterate farmers; the majority of which were women. Further, farmers’ preventive herd health, food safety, and sanitation practices were not associated with their awareness. Several farmers reported high-risk practices despite being aware of zoonotic diseases, suggesting a disconnect between the farmers’ awareness and practice. Our study highlights the need for improving Nepali farmers’ knowledge of zoonoses and disease prevention measures. Closing these awareness-practice gaps will require an improved understanding of risk and effective drivers of behavior change, alongside engagement of farmers in development of zoonotic disease prevention programs that encourage participation of both male and female farmers across all levels of education.

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Acknowledgements

The project was funded by the USAID Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Collaborative Research on Adapting Livestock Systems to Climate Change. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of authorities from the Department of Livestock Services (DLS), Nepal Agricultural Research Council (NARC), and Agriculture and Forestry University (AFU) in implementing the questionnaires. We thank the staff of the Livestock Services Centers (LSC) for assistance with farmer engagement. We also thank Dhurba DC, Sapana Ghimire, Ekata Pandey, and Sanjeev Wasti for administration of the questionnaires and Kate Thomas for assistance with map design. We are especially grateful to the farmers who participated in the survey. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, DLS, and NARC.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. One Health Institute, University of California, 1089 Veterinary Medicine Drive, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Terra R. Kelly, David A. Bunn, Annette Roug, David J. Wolking & Jonna A. K. Mazet

  2. Department of Animal Science, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR), Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Nanda P. Joshi

  3. Large Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    Daniel Grooms

  4. Department of Rural Sociology and Development Studies, Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal

    Durga Devkota

  5. Directorate of Research and Extension, Agriculture and Forestry University, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal

    Naba R. Devkota

  6. Directorate of Livestock Production, Department of Livestock Services, Ministry of Livestock Development, Harihar Bhawan, Lalitpur, Nepal

    Lok Nath Paudel

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  1. Terra R. Kelly
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  2. David A. Bunn
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was independently reviewed, and ethical approval was provided by the Institutional Review Board at the University of California, Davis (#654129-1) and at AFU. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Kelly, T.R., Bunn, D.A., Joshi, N.P. et al. Awareness and Practices Relating to Zoonotic Diseases Among Smallholder Farmers in Nepal. EcoHealth 15, 656–669 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-018-1343-4

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