Kabeta Tadele, Tolosa Tadele, Nagara Alamayo, Chantziaras Ilias, Croubels Siska, Van Immerseel Filip, Antonissen Gunther
School of Veterinary Medicine, College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Jimma University, Jimma P.O. Box 307, Ethiopia.
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Pathobiology, Pharmacology and Zoological Medicine, Ghent University, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
Animals (Basel). 2024 Nov 28;14(23):3441. doi: 10.3390/ani14233441.
Poultry farming in Ethiopia is crucial for food security and income, but it faces significant challenges due to gaps in farmer awareness. A cross-sectional study was conducted using the Biocheck.UGent™ biosecurity scoring system and a questionnaire to evaluate poultry farmers' basic and practical knowledge concerning salmonellosis and mycotoxins. The questionnaire revealed substantial gaps in basic and practical knowledge regarding spp infections and mycotoxin among 38 poultry farmers in Jimma. About 68.4% of farmers were unaware of the impact of salmonellosis on both poultry and human health. Moreover, 78.9% had limited basic knowledge of how salmonellosis affects production and the economy. Farmers also showed limited practical knowledge of farm management and hygiene practices essential for preventing spp. infections. Regarding mycotoxins, 63.2% of farmers lacked awareness of poultry feed management, 60.5% were unaware of the health risks mycotoxins pose, and 73.7% did not recognize signs of mycotoxin contamination. Although 55.3% of farmers demonstrated acceptable practical knowledge of strategies to reduce the impact of mycotoxin contaminations, there are still concerns, particularly since 65.8% and 55.3% only showed moderate practical knowledge of feed storage and mycotoxin prevention, respectively. The overall biosecurity scores of poultry farms were below the global average, with a score of 41.7 compared to the worldwide average of 64. The overall mean score for external biosecurity was 44.9, below the global average of 63. All 3 scoring platforms and biosecurity parameters indicated that internal biosecurity was the weakest aspect, with a score of 31.6, well below the global standard of 64. The results showed a weak correlation (rₛ = 0.06) between farmers' basic and practical knowledge scores about spp. infections and mycotoxins. Similarly, there was a weak correlation between the poor biosecurity score of poultry farms and the basic and practical knowledge of poultry farmers on spp. infections (rₛ = 0.17) and mycotoxins (rₛ = 0.25). In conclusion, the study found that poultry farmers in Jimma had poor basic and practical knowledge scores on , mycotoxins, and biosecurity measures. Thus, awareness creation is paramount to improve these gaps to reduce the impact of contamination and poultry diseases and consequently to improve food security and food safety.
在埃塞俄比亚，家禽养殖对粮食安全和收入至关重要，但由于农民意识方面的差距，该行业面临重大挑战。本研究采用Biocheck.UGent™生物安全评分系统和问卷调查进行横断面研究，以评估家禽养殖户对沙门氏菌病和霉菌毒素的基本知识和实践知识。问卷调查显示，在吉姆马的38家家禽养殖户中，关于沙门氏菌感染和霉菌毒素的基本知识和实践知识存在很大差距。约68.4%的养殖户不知道沙门氏菌病对家禽和人类健康的影响。此外，78.9%的养殖户对沙门氏菌病如何影响生产和经济的基本知识有限。养殖户在农场管理和预防沙门氏菌感染所需的卫生措施方面的实践知识也很有限。关于霉菌毒素，63.2%的养殖户缺乏家禽饲料管理意识，60.5%的养殖户不知道霉菌毒素带来的健康风险，73.7%的养殖户没有识别出霉菌毒素污染的迹象。虽然55.3%的养殖户在减少霉菌毒素污染影响的策略方面表现出可接受的实践知识，但仍存在担忧，特别是因为分别只有65.8%和55.3%的养殖户在饲料储存和霉菌毒素预防方面仅表现出中等实践知识。家禽养殖场的总体生物安全得分低于全球平均水平，得分为41.7，而全球平均分为64。外部生物安全的总体平均得分为44.9，低于全球平均水平63。所有3个评分平台和生物安全参数均表明，内部生物安全是最薄弱的环节，得分为31.6，远低于全球标准64。结果显示，养殖户关于沙门氏菌感染和霉菌毒素的基本知识得分与实践知识得分之间存在弱相关性（rₛ = 0.06）。同样，家禽养殖场较差的生物安全得分与家禽养殖户关于沙门氏菌感染（rₛ = 0.17）和霉菌毒素（rₛ = 0.25）的基本知识和实践知识之间也存在弱相关性。总之，研究发现吉姆马的家禽养殖户在沙门氏菌、霉菌毒素和生物安全措施方面的基本知识和实践知识得分较低。因此，提高认识对于弥补这些差距以减少污染和家禽疾病的影响从而改善粮食安全和食品安全至关重要。
