Tesfaye Tegegn, Abate Aschenaki
Southern Agricultural Research Institute (SARI), Jinka Agricultural Research Center (JARC), Ethiopia.
Heliyon. 2023 Jun 12;9(6):e17212. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e17212. eCollection 2023 Jun.
Although acaricide chemotherapy is widely used to control tick infestation in Ethiopia, its effectiveness is uncertain due to misusage by herdsmen. Currently, there is no study being conducted in the South Omo Zone of Ethiopia which shows the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) and associated factors of acaricide usage by herdsmen. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess KAP of 120 (83 male and 37 female) pastoralist and agro-pastoralist of Bena-Tsemay district through structured questionnaire survey. Accordingly, Ivermectin was the most preferred acaricide by majority (62.5%) of the herdsmen. Half (50%) of the herdsmen confessed that price of acaricide is the defining variable for acaricide preference in their location where 60.83% of them obtain acaricides from private drug shops. Majority (60%) of the respondents said that they obtain information about acaricide usage from drug sellers in the vet drug shops. According to 72.50% of the respondents, acaricide application/injection on the infested herd was conducted by the herdsmen. A 95.83% of our interviewee revealed that there was no training or awareness creation being given on how to inject or apply acaricide on tick infested animals. Moreover, all responders (100%) confessed that they didn't have a practice of weighing animals and measuring acaricide dosage prior to injection/application. The incidence of acaricide poisoning on animal and personnel was reported by 19.17% and 22.5% of respondents, respectively. Simple logistic regression analysis revealed that gender (OR = 5.09, OR 95% CI = 2.30-11.72), practice of acaricide rotation (OR = 3.22, OR 95% CI = 1.41-7.64) and personnel preference for acaricide application (OR = 2.66, OR 95% CI = 1.18-6.15) were significantly (P < 0.05) associated with the knowledge score of the respondents. On the other hand, respondent's attitude score was significantly (P < 0.05) associated with their acaricide rotation practice (OR = 3.20, OR 95% CI = 1.39-7.53) and personnel preference for acaricide application (OR = 6.61, OR 95% CI = 2.78-16.93). Similarly, practice of acaricide rotation (OR = 5.31, OR 95% CI = 2.26-12.96) and personnel preference for acaricide application (OR = 7.21, OR 95% CI = 3.03-17.99) were significantly linked with the practice score of the respondents towards acaricide usage. In conclusion, ticks are the major challenge in the study area despite widespread usage of acaricides. Because of extensive misusage of available acaricides, awareness creation should be applied to narrow KAP gaps and to conserve the efficacy of these chemicals. Furthermore, acaricide efficacy investigation (in vitro and in vivo) should be conducted to know the status of commonly used acaricides in the area.
尽管杀螨剂化学疗法在埃塞俄比亚被广泛用于控制蜱虫侵扰，但由于牧民的错误使用，其效果尚不确定。目前，埃塞俄比亚南奥莫地区尚未有研究表明牧民使用杀螨剂的知识、态度和行为（KAP）及相关因素。因此，本研究通过结构化问卷调查对贝纳-塞迈区120名（83名男性和37名女性）牧民和农牧民的KAP进行了评估。据此，伊维菌素是大多数（62.5%）牧民最青睐的杀螨剂。一半（50%）的牧民承认杀螨剂价格是他们所在地区杀螨剂偏好的决定性变量，其中60.83%的人从私人药店获取杀螨剂。大多数（60%）的受访者表示，他们从兽药商店的药剂师那里获得有关杀螨剂使用的信息。据72.50%的受访者称，受蜱虫侵扰的畜群的杀螨剂涂抹/注射工作由牧民进行。95.83%的受访者表示，没有接受过关于如何对受蜱虫侵扰的动物进行注射或涂抹杀螨剂的培训或宣传。此外，所有受访者（100%）都承认他们在注射/涂抹前没有称量动物体重和测量杀螨剂剂量的习惯。分别有19.17%和22.5%的受访者报告了动物和人员的杀螨剂中毒发生率。简单逻辑回归分析显示，性别（OR = 5.09，OR 95% CI = 2.30 - 11.72）、杀螨剂轮换使用习惯（OR = 3.22，OR 95% CI = 1.41 - 7.64）和人员对杀螨剂涂抹的偏好（OR = 2.66，OR 95% CI = 1.18 - 6.15）与受访者的知识得分显著（P < 0.05）相关。另一方面，受访者的态度得分与他们的杀螨剂轮换使用习惯（OR = 3.20，OR 95% CI = 1.39 - 7.53）和人员对杀螨剂涂抹的偏好（OR = 6.61，OR 95% CI = 2.78 - 16.93）显著（P < 0.05）相关。同样，杀螨剂轮换使用习惯（OR = 5.31，OR 95% CI = 2.26 - 12.96）和人员对杀螨剂涂抹的偏好（OR = 7.21，OR 95% CI = 3.03 - 17.99）与受访者对杀螨剂使用的行为得分显著相关。总之，尽管杀螨剂被广泛使用，但蜱虫仍是研究区域的主要挑战。由于现有杀螨剂的广泛误用，应开展宣传以缩小KAP差距并保持这些化学品的效力。此外，应进行杀螨剂疗效调查（体外和体内）以了解该地区常用杀螨剂的状况。
