CIRAD, UMR ASTRE, Montpellier, France.
CIRAD, UMR ASTRE, Univ Montpellier, INRAE, Montpellier, France.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Feb 1;24(1):342. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-17696-7.
Strengthening the surveillance of zoonotic diseases emergence in the wild meat value chains is a critical component of the prevention of future health crises. Community hunters could act as first-line observers in zoonotic pathogens surveillance systems in wildlife, by reporting early signs of the possible presence of a disease in the game animals they observe and manipulate on a regular basis.
An experimental game was developed and implemented in a forested area of Gabon, in central Africa. Our objective was to improve our understanding of community hunters' decision-making when finding signs of zoonotic diseases in game animals: would they report or dissimulate these findings to a health agency? 88 hunters, divided into 9 groups of 5 to 13 participants, participated in the game, which was run over 21 rounds. In each round the players participated in a simulated hunting trip during which they had a chance of capturing a wild animal displaying clinical signs of a zoonotic disease. When signs were visible, players had to decide whether to sell/consume the animal or to report it. The last option implied a lowered revenue from the hunt but an increased probability of early detection of zoonotic diseases with benefits for the entire group of hunters.
The results showed that false alerts-i.e. a suspect case not caused by a zoonotic disease-led to a decrease in the number of reports in the next round (Odds Ratio [OR]: 0.46, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.36-0.8, p < 0.01). Hunters who had an agricultural activity in addition to hunting reported suspect cases more often than others (OR: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.09-3.88, p < 0.03). The number of suspect case reports increased with the rank of the game round (Incremental OR: 1.11, CI: 1.06-1.17, p < 0.01) suggesting an increase in participants' inclination to report throughout the game.
Using experimental games presents an added value for improving the understanding of people's decisions to participate in health surveillance systems.
加强对野生动物肉类价值链中动物传染病出现的监测，是预防未来健康危机的关键组成部分。社区猎人可以通过报告他们经常观察和处理的猎物动物中可能存在疾病的早期迹象，成为野生动物中动物传染病监测系统的一线观察员。
在中非加蓬的一个森林地区开展并实施了一项实验性游戏。我们的目标是提高对社区猎人在发现猎物动物出现动物传染病迹象时决策的理解：他们会报告还是隐瞒这些发现给卫生机构？88 名猎人分为 9 组，每组 5 至 13 名参与者，参加了游戏，共进行了 21 轮。在每一轮中，玩家都参加了一次模拟狩猎旅行，有机会捕获显示动物传染病临床症状的野生动物。当出现症状时，玩家必须决定是出售/食用动物还是报告。最后一个选择意味着狩猎收入降低，但有机会更早地发现动物传染病，从而使整个猎人小组受益。
结果表明，虚假警报——即不是由动物传染病引起的可疑病例——导致下一轮报告数量减少（优势比[OR]：0.46，95%置信区间[CI]：0.36-0.8，p<0.01）。除了狩猎之外还有农业活动的猎人比其他人更经常报告可疑病例（OR：2.05，95% CI：1.09-3.88，p<0.03）。随着游戏轮次的增加，可疑病例报告的数量也随之增加（增量 OR：1.11，CI：1.06-1.17，p<0.01），这表明参与者在整个游戏过程中报告的意愿有所增加。
使用实验游戏对于提高人们参与卫生监测系统的决策理解具有附加价值。
