Abstract:
Background: Rabies is perhaps the most deadly of all human diseases, as once clinical
symptoms appear it is almost 100 percent fatal and there is no specific treatment that cures the
virus after clinical onset. The WHO estimates that approximately 50,000 people die of rabies
annually and about 40 percent of the victims are children. In most studies even though people
were familiar with rabies, the practices towards rabies prevention and control measures remain a
challenge. In West Hararge zone particularly in Chiro town evidence on prevention and control
of rabies among dog owners is limited.
Objectives: To assess rabies prevention and control practice and associated factors among dog
owners from July 30/ 2021 to August 30/2021 in Chiro Town in West Hararge Zone, Oromia
region, Ethiopia.
Methodology: Community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 372 sampled dog
owning households.The samples were selected from total number of 6500 dog owner households
in the town using simple random sampling method. Data were collected using pretested
structured questioner, entered into epidata, and exported to SPSS version 24 for analysis.
Bivariate and multivariable regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with
the outcome variable.
Results: Overall 52.8% participants were found to be havig poor rabies prevention and control
practices. Morethan half 52.1% of respondents have had good knowledge about rabies
prevention and control practices and 49.1% have good attitude. Only 28.2% of respondents were
responded to history of dog bites. The odds of good practices among households having one dog
were 2.292 times more compared to households having 2 or more of dogs (AOR= 2.292, 95%
CI: 1.333-4.792). Respondents travelling <30 minute to get vet clinics were 9.43 times more
odds of having good practice than counterparts(AOR= 9.43, 95% CI: 5.529-25.945).
Conclusions and recommendations: The level of good rabies prevention and control practices
is low. Outreach services to dog owning households living in morethan 30 minutes walk distance
and promoting households to control the number of dogs in the households should be applied for
good rabies prevention and control practices.
