Community Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP), Incidence of Suspected Cases and Epidemiological Distribution of Rabies in Humans and Animals in Southwest Shewa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

Tegegn Dilbato Dinbiso ^1* Abebe Tibebu Mekonnen ² Tolesa Negasa Olana ¹ Gudina Mekonnen Ayana ¹ Kebede Abdisa Kelbesa ¹ Hana Dejene Deso ¹ Segni Bedasa Gudina ¹ Moges Kidane Biru ¹ Mulatu Ayana Ayana ³ Mekonnen Sorsa Sorsa ¹

• ¹ Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia
• ² Gelan Distric Agriculture and Fisheries Development Office, Other, Bako, Ethiopia
• ³ College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ambo University, Ambo, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Background: Rabies remains a major public and veterinary health problem in most developing countries, including Ethiopia. Despite its public health importance, no systematic study has been conducted in the area. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice, and to estimate the incidence and spatial distribution of rabies in humans and animals in the Southwest Shewa zone of Oromia, Ethiopia.A questionnaire-based cross-sectional and retrospective study designs were employed among 422 randomly selected informants potentially at risk of rabies. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. The study utilized retrospective data from individuals admitted for rabies cases between 2017 and 2021 to analyze and map the epidemiological distribution of the disease using ArcGIS. Furthermore, descriptive statistics and logistic regression models were employed to analyze the data.Results: This study revealed that the level of good knowledge, positive attitude, and good prevention practices toward rabies among the communities were 58.3%, 47.9%, and 54.2%, respectively. The proportion of respondents who own dogs (OR=1.7, 95% CI: 1.050-2.873, p = 0.032), live in urban areas (OR=10.7, 95% CI: 1.106-103, p = 0.042), and have a higher degree of education (OR=2.4, 95% CI: 1.061-5.513, p = 0.036) were statistically significantly associated with good knowledge scores toward rabies. Private workers and urban residents were statistically associated with positive attitude scores on rabies (p< 0.05). Living in urban areas (OR=2.9, 95% CI: 1.596-5.407, p = 0.000) and Weliso district (OR=10, 95% CI: 4.099-24.560, p = 0.000) had good prevention practice scores toward rabies. A total of 529 suspected rabies cases with an overall incidence of 44.9 cases per 100,000 population in humans and 127 suspected rabies cases with an overall incidence of 3.4 cases per 100,000 population in animals were registered from 2017-2021.The level of knowledge, positive attitude, and good practice toward rabies were found to be inadequate. Therefore, awareness creation programs and effective and well-organized prevention and control measures should be employed, with a special focus on identified risk factors, to reduce disease burdens through a One Health (OH) approach.