An In-Depth Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practices about Transmission of Zoonoses, Food Safety, Antimicrobial Resistance and the Detection of E. coli O 157:H7 along the Meat Value Chain in Ethiopia: One Health approach
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Date
2023
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Food-borne diseases associated with zoonotic pathogens can be transmitted to humans primarily, but not exclusively through animal source foods. Antimicrobial resistance in the food chain is also currently a subject of a major concern globally. The excessive use or rather misuse of antimicrobials coupled with a poor hygiene in the food production chain has led to a rise of drug resistant bacteria, commonly transmitted through food chain. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken by using a structured pretested questionnaire to investigate the level of knowledge, attitude and practices towards the transmission of Zoonoses among farmers in Ada‘a district, food safety among meat handlers of Bishoftu city and antimicrobial use (AMU) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among 10 public University students in Ethiopia. Another study was also carried out to detect E. coli O157: H7 along the meat value chain in abattoirs and retail meat shops and of Bishoftu city and to assess the susceptibility profile of the isolates against 13 antibiotics using a standard disk diffusion method. Logistic regression was used to assess the associations between socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Accordingly, farmers with secondary school or above education background (OR= 6.8, CI=2.4 - 18.0, p <0.05), aged between 41 and 50 years (OR=3.0, 95% CI: 1.2–7.2, p<0.05), and good knowledge (OR=2.1, CI=1.3 - 3.5, p <0.05), and positive attitude (OR=7.8, CI=4.7 - 12.9, p <0.01) had better practices that reduce the risk of exposure to zoonotic infections than their counterparts. Most meat handlers had a good knowledge level, a positive attitude and poor food safety practices. In multivariable models, good knowledge was significantly (p<0.05) associated with older age; positive attitudes were associated with lower educational attainment and good knowledge; and good practices were associated with working experience in an abattoir and having received training on food safety. Students' birthplace was found to be significantly (p <0.01) associated with knowledge of students on AMU and AMR. Students with good knowledge had 3.9 times more positive attitudes than those with poor knowledge (OR = 3.9, CI = 3.0 -5.2, p < 0.01). Students from Veterinary medicine had 1.6 times better attitude than students from Helath Science and Non-Helath Science (OR = 1.6, CI=1.2- 2.1, p < 0.05). The prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 was found to be 3.6%. There was a significant difference in the occurrences of the pathogen among the sources of samples (p<0.05). The antimicrobial susceptibility test revealed that the isolates were found to be resistant to three commonly used drugs, tetracycline (100%), erythromycin (92.8%), and ampicillin (64.3%). However, all isolates were susceptible to azithromycin, cefotaxime, and chloramphenicol. However, 85.8% of the isolates were found to be resistant to three or more classes of antimicrobials. In conclusion, this study revealed knowledge gaps, a low level of the desired attitude, and high-risk behavioral practices among farmers about the transmsioon of Zoonoses. The study revealed that there is an inadequate food safety practice among meat handlers; and E. coli O157:H7 was detected in abattoirs and butcher shops. Furtheromeore, there were critical gaps of knowledge, attitudes and practices among University students about antimicrobial usage and antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, the need for awareness creation about zoonotic disease transmission among farmers, regular hands-on training and enforcement of general and personal hygiene among meat handlers is recommended. Moreover, interventions to raise awareness about AMU and AMR should also target students majoring in fields other than health sciences.
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Keywords
AMR, Beef, E. coli O157:H7, Food safety, KAP, Zoonoses, Ethiopia