Xu Bo, Zhou Lijuan, Qiu Chengmei, Li Yanling, Zhang Wei
College of Public Administration and Law, Hunan Agricultural University, Changsha 410128, China.
School of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030, China.
Vet Sci. 2021 Nov 5;8(11):266. doi: 10.3390/vetsci8110266.
An animal epidemic is a big threat for economic development that may seriously disturb the breeding industry and people's normal life. The most effective approach so far for epidemic control is biosecurity, zoning, culling animals exposed, and other relevant measures, which highly demands the cooperation of farmers in epidemic areas. However, an uncooperative phenomenon among individual farmers facing an epidemic has been recorded for a long time and includes unwilling to report the epidemic and selling infected pork. It is important to unravel the determinants of farmers' coping behaviors during an animal epidemic outbreak and use corresponding strategies to reduce farmers' inappropriate behaviors. Taking African Swine Fever (ASF) crisis as an example, this study aimed to reveal the determinants and underlying mechanism of pig farmers' coping behaviors. We adopted qualitative interviews with 45 pig farmers across four endemically infected areas in Hunan provinces, and the data collected were subjected to a grounded theory analysis. Our results showed that emergency response, information sources, and information channels jointly affected pig farmers' epidemic risk perception and their perception of coping behaviors. Meanwhile, both the characteristics of the government and pig farmers moderated this affect. Consequently, by processing information through either a heuristic or an analytical path, pig farmers' behavioral intention was transformed into actual coping behaviors. Our study emphasizes the value of sufficient risk communication, proper compensation policies, and strong public trust in the government for improving the farmers' participation in the epidemic response. Theoretical and practical implications to animal epidemic prevention and control are provided.
动物疫情是经济发展的重大威胁，可能严重扰乱养殖业和人们的正常生活。迄今为止，控制疫情最有效的方法是生物安全、划定区域、扑杀受感染动物以及其他相关措施，这高度需要疫区农民的合作。然而，长期以来，个别农民在面对疫情时存在不合作现象，包括不愿报告疫情和销售受感染猪肉。剖析动物疫情爆发期间农民应对行为的决定因素，并采取相应策略减少农民的不当行为，具有重要意义。以非洲猪瘟（ASF）危机为例，本研究旨在揭示养猪户应对行为的决定因素和潜在机制。我们对湖南省四个地方流行感染区的45位养猪户进行了定性访谈，并对收集到的数据进行了扎根理论分析。我们的结果表明，应急响应、信息来源和信息渠道共同影响养猪户的疫情风险认知及其对应对行为的认知。同时，政府和养猪户的特征都对这种影响起到了调节作用。因此，通过启发式或分析式路径处理信息，养猪户的行为意图转化为实际应对行为。我们的研究强调了充分的风险沟通、适当的补偿政策以及公众对政府的高度信任对于提高农民参与疫情应对的价值。为动物疫病防控提供了理论和实践意义。
