7 / 2024-10-02 17:21:59

ASSESSMENT OF THE SOCIAL ECONOMIC AND PUBLIC HEALTH IMPACTS OF bTB IN AFRICA

Bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) is a very contagious and neglected zoonosis disease of cattle that is very prevalent, however, under investigation in Zambia. The disease poses a huge public health threat and economic losses as a result of unpasteurized milk consumption, abattoir condemnation of infected carcasses. Hence this study was designed to assess the social-economic and public health impact of bTB from cattle to humans. Therefore, a cross-sectional study was to determine the impact of bTB on the socio-economic and public health of cattle farmers.The specific objectives of the study were to, determine the impact of social and economic factors on bTB awareness, determine the impact of bTB on public health, assess the impact of bTB on gender, occupation, education, area of residence, and income, and assess the relationship of transmission modes. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze quantitative data using R software while qualitative data was analyzed using Nvivo® and content analysis. The findings show that monthly income (OR = 1.01, CI = 1.00-1.01, p< 0.05) and years spent on cattle rearing (OR = 1.09, CI = 1.04-1.16, p = 0.001) significantly influenced the bTB awareness. The findings on public health show that the age category of 40-50 years was significantly impacted by bTB (p = 0.005, OR = 3.02, and CI = 1.38-6.63). It shows that males have higher probabilities for the reduction in income than females attributed to beef carcass condemnation at an abattoir. It also predicted probabilities of income changes due to the impact of bTB were lowest in medical and veterinary personnel. As for residential areas, it shows that there is a reduction of probabilities of income observed in the rural areas as opposed to the urban areas associated with beef carcass condemnation and low milk production. The results showed that consumption of undercooked meat was significantly higher in males than in females (p = 0.013, OR = 7.73, CI = 1.67-35.77).
The study findings have imperative social-economic and public health implications hence, a One Health approach is needed .
The study recommends an intensive meat inspection in all slaughtering houses.