Sydney School of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Sydney School of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
Prev Vet Med. 2020 Jun;179:104988. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2020.104988. Epub 2020 Apr 13.
Hendra virus (HeV) is an emerging bat-borne virus endemic in Australia that can be transmitted from horses to humans and has a high fatality rate for horses and people. Controversy surrounding HeV risk mitigation measures have strained the veterinarian-horse owner relationship. This study aimed to characterise the veterinarian-horse owner relationship in general and also in the context of HeV by analysing data derived from the 'Horse Owners and Hendra Virus: A Longitudinal Study to Evaluate Risk' (HHALTER) study. Australian horse owners were recruited via emails, social media and word-of-mouth for a series of five surveys that were administered online at six-monthly intervals over a two-year period to capture baseline knowledge, attitudes and practices of horse owners regarding HeV and any changes over time. In the current study, descriptive analyses of information sources were performed to understand the use of veterinarians as a HeV information source (Surveys 1 and 5; n = 1195 and n = 617). Ordinal logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine factors associated with the frequency of horse owner contact with a veterinarian (Survey 3; n = 636). This study found a relative increase over the study period in the proportion of horse owners who had used veterinarians as HeV information source in the last 12 months (from 51.9% to 88.3%). Owning more horses, being older, having a 'duty of care' for other people working with horses and deriving the main income from horse related business were factors associated with more frequent veterinary contact. Results suggest that traditional information sources such as workshops, information packs and risk training are likely to be used by horse owners. Smart phone applications should be considered for use in the future and require further investigation for horse health communication. The findings of this study may be helpful in optimising strategies for horse health information delivery.
亨德拉病毒（HeV）是一种在澳大利亚流行的新兴蝙蝠传播病毒，可在马与人之间传播，且马和人感染该病毒的死亡率都很高。围绕 HeV 风险缓解措施的争议已经影响了兽医与马主的关系。本研究旨在通过分析“马主与亨德拉病毒：评估风险的纵向研究”（HHALTER）研究的数据，来描述一般情况下兽医与马主的关系，以及在 HeV 背景下的兽医与马主的关系。通过电子邮件、社交媒体和口口相传的方式，招募了澳大利亚的马主，他们参与了一项为期两年的五次在线调查，每隔六个月进行一次，以了解马主对 HeV 的基本知识、态度和做法，并了解其随时间的变化。在本研究中，通过描述性分析信息来源，了解兽医作为 HeV 信息来源的使用情况（调查 1 和 5；n=1195 和 n=617）。采用有序逻辑回归分析，确定与马主与兽医接触频率相关的因素（调查 3；n=636）。本研究发现，在研究期间，马主在过去 12 个月内使用兽医作为 HeV 信息来源的比例相对增加（从 51.9%增加到 88.3%）。拥有更多的马、年龄更大、对与马一起工作的其他人有“照顾责任”以及主要收入来自与马相关的业务，这些都是与更频繁的兽医接触相关的因素。结果表明，马主可能会使用传统的信息来源，如研讨会、信息包和风险培训。未来应考虑使用智能手机应用程序，且需要进一步研究其在马健康传播方面的应用。本研究的结果可能有助于优化马健康信息传递策略。
