Veterinary Epidemiology, Economics and Public Health Group, Department of Pathobiology and Population Sciences, Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, Herts, Hatfield, UK.
Ecole Inter Etats des Sciences et Médecine Vétérinaires de Dakar (EISMV), Dakar, Senegal.
BMC Public Health. 2020 May 20;20(1):742. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-08877-1.
Milk is a nutrient-rich food that makes an important contribution to diets in several Low and Middle Income Countries such as Senegal. Milk can also harbour several pathogenic microorganisms. As in other low and middle income countries, the dairy industry in Senegal is growing, with an expansion of farms to meet rapidly growing demand in the cities. However, most of the production still happens in the informal sector, and little is known about consumption of milk and milk products, or knowledge, awareness and practices of actors in informal dairy supply chains.
We conducted structured focus group discussions with dairy farmers and milk processors in three selected regions (Dakar, Thies and Fatick) in Senegal to investigate the consumption practices, awareness of milk borne hazards, and practices relevant to the risk of milk contamination to gain a deeper understanding of drivers of milk-borne diseases. Data on the consumption of milk and milk products were also collected using a closed questionnaire.
Results indicate that milk is an important part of the diet in the study regionsand raw milk consumption is very common. The most common milk product consumed was fermented milk. Awareness of milk borne hazards was limited. Several farmers and processors reported risky practices, despite being aware of better practices, due to cultural beliefs. In households, children, pregnant women and older people were prioritised when milk and milk products were distributed. Dairy farmers and milk processors were more concerned with the lack of food for animals, low production and seasonality of production than the safety of the milk and milk products.
Lack of awareness of milk borne infections and some traditional practices put milk and milk product consumers in the study area at high risk of milk borne diseases.. Prioritising certain sub population at households (Pregnant women and children) makes then vulnerable to milk-borne hazards. It will be challenging to change the risky practices as they are motivated by cultural beliefs hence the best strategy to promote milk safety will be to encourage the boiling of milk by consumers.
牛奶是一种营养丰富的食物，对塞内加尔等一些低收入和中等收入国家的饮食起着重要作用。牛奶也可能含有多种致病微生物。与其他低收入和中等收入国家一样，塞内加尔的乳制品行业正在发展，农场数量不断增加，以满足城市中快速增长的需求。然而，大部分生产仍在非正规部门进行，人们对牛奶和奶制品的消费、非正规牛奶供应链中各环节的知识、意识和做法知之甚少。
我们在塞内加尔三个选定地区（达喀尔、捷斯和法蒂克）与奶牛场主和牛奶加工者进行了结构化焦点小组讨论，以调查消费习惯、对牛奶传播危害的认识，以及与牛奶污染风险相关的做法，以更深入地了解导致牛奶传播疾病的因素。还使用封闭式问卷收集了有关牛奶和奶制品消费的数据。
结果表明，牛奶是研究地区饮食的重要组成部分，生奶消费非常普遍。最常见的牛奶产品是发酵奶。对牛奶传播危害的认识有限。尽管一些农民和加工者了解更好的做法，但由于文化信仰，他们报告了一些危险做法。在家庭中，儿童、孕妇和老年人在分配牛奶和奶制品时优先考虑。奶牛场主和牛奶加工者更关心的是动物缺乏食物、生产低产和季节性，而不是牛奶和奶制品的安全性。
对牛奶传播感染的认识不足和一些传统做法使研究地区的牛奶和奶制品消费者面临很高的牛奶传播疾病风险。家庭中某些特定人群（孕妇和儿童）的优先考虑使他们容易受到牛奶传播危害的影响。由于这些危险做法是受文化信仰驱动的，因此改变这些做法具有挑战性，鼓励消费者煮沸牛奶将是促进牛奶安全的最佳策略。
