Mshelbwala, Philip P., Wangdi, Kinley, Bunting-Graden, Joseph A., Bamayange, Saidu, Adamu, Andrew, Gupta, Suman D., Suluku, Rowland, Adamu, Cornelius S., Weese, J. Scott, Rupprecht, Charles E., and Clark, Nicholas J. (2024) Insights into canine rabies vaccination Disparities in Sierra Leone: A cross-sectional household study. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 18 (7). e0012332.

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Abstract

Annually, Sierra Leone records an estimated 301 human fatalities due to rabies. Canine vaccination is crucial for rabies prevention and control efforts. However, considerable variability exists in vaccination rates. Reasons for this variation remain unclear. We conducted a cross-sectional study across 2,558 dog-owning households (HHs) to provide insights into factors influencing canine vaccination for targeted prevention and control towards elimination by 2030. First, we described dog ownership practices, then built a probabilistic model to understand factors associated with dog vaccination, and finally used a spatial scan statistic to identify spatial clusters where vaccination rates were low. Our results indicated that only 14% (358/2,558) of participating HHs had fully vaccinated their dogs against rabies. The probability of dog vaccination increased when comparing civil servants to private workers/artisans, with an Odds Ratio(OR) of 1.14 (95% credible interval (Crl) of 0.82–1.56), residing in locations with a veterinary establishment vs. none (OR = 6.43, 95% Crl (4.97–8.35), providing care to dogs vs. allowing dogs to roam freely (OR = 2.38, 95% Crl(1.80–3.17) and owning a single dog vs multiple dogs (OR = 1.20, 95 Crl (0.92–1.56). Conversely, there was a decrease in the estimated probability of vaccination when comparing dog owners located in rural vs. urban areas (OR = 0.58, CrI 95% (0.43–0.78). Latent understanding, a measure of overall understanding of rabies virus, which we estimated using participant education levels and responses to questions about rabies epidemiology, was also an important predictor of vaccination probability (OR = 1.44, 95% Crl (1.04, 2.07). The spatial analysis identified high-risk clusters for low vaccination in the cities of Mayamba, with a radius of 40 km, a relative risk (RR) of 1.10, and Bo, with a radius of 19.9 km with RR of 1.11. These data do not support Sierra Leone reaching the 2030 goal of human rabies elimination caused by dogs. Our study highlights a critical need for public outreach and education, improved vaccination rates, increased accessibility to veterinary services, and targeted interventions in Bo and Mayamba to support rabies prevention and control efforts.

Item ID:	83237
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1935-2735
Copyright Information:	Copyright: © 2024 Mshelbwala et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Date Deposited:	06 Aug 2024 02:26
FoR Codes:	30 AGRICULTURAL, VETERINARY AND FOOD SCIENCES > 3009 Veterinary sciences > 300905 Veterinary epidemiology @ 50% 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4206 Public health > 420605 Preventative health care @ 50%
SEO Codes:	20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200412 Preventive medicine @ 50% 20 HEALTH > 2004 Public health (excl. specific population health) > 200499 Public health (excl. specific population health) not elsewhere classified @ 50%
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