title: The One Health approach to identify knowledge, attitudes and practices that affect community involvement in the control of Rift Valley fever outbreaks.
abstract: Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a viral mosquito-borne disease with the potential for global expansion, causes hemorrhagic fever, and has a high case fatality rate in young animals and in humans. Using a cross-sectional community-based study design, we investigated the knowledge, attitudes and practices of people living in small village in Sudan with respect to RVF outbreaks. A special One Health questionnaire was developed to compile data from 235 heads of household concerning their knowledge, attitudes, and practices with regard to controlling RVF. Although the 2007 RVF outbreak in Sudan had negatively affected the participants' food availability and livestock income, the participants did not fully understand how to identify RVF symptoms and risk factors for both humans and livestock. For example, the participants mistakenly believed that avoiding livestock that had suffered spontaneous abortions was the least important risk factor for RVF. Although the majority noticed an increase in mosquito population during the 2007 RVF outbreak, few used impregnated bed nets as preventive measures. The community was reluctant to notify the authorities about RVF suspicion in livestock, a sentinel for human RVF infection. Almost all the respondents stressed that they would not receive any compensation for their dead livestock if they notified the authorities. In addition, the participants believed that controlling RVF outbreaks was mainly the responsibility of human health authorities rather than veterinary authorities. The majority of the participants were aware that RVF could spread from one region to another within the country. Participants received most their information about RVF from social networks and the mass media, rather than the health system or veterinarians. Because the perceived role of the community in controlling RVF was fragmented, the probability of RVF spread increased.
authors.affiliation: Umeå University, Clinical Microbiology, Virology, Umeå, Sweden.|Public Health Institute, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: Osama Ahmed
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.affiliation: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya.|International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Bamako, Mali.
authors.forename: Hippolyte
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Affognon
authors.affiliation: Umeå University, Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Epidemiology and Global Health and Umeå Centre for Global Health Research, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Joacim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rocklöv
authors.affiliation: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mburu
authors.affiliation: International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, Nairobi, Kenya.
authors.forename: Rosemary
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sang
authors.affiliation: Umeå University, Clinical Microbiology, Infectious Diseases, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Clas
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ahlm
authors.affiliation: Umeå University, Clinical Microbiology, Virology, Umeå, Sweden.
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Evander
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D009033:Culicidae / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007303:Insect Vectors / Q000502:physiology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012295:Rift Valley Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000635:transmission; D012296:Rift Valley fever virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013397:Sudan / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult