Abstract
Materials and methods: A 12-month intervention study was conducted in Myanmar to overcome constraints to village chicken production. Interventions included Newcastle disease (ND) vaccination and improved chick management. Following Health Belief Model (HBM) framework, 81 village chicken farmers were surveyed before and after interventions to determine the level of change in
farmers’ knowledge and perceptions about ND. Marginal homogeneity tests were used to compare level of change in farmers' matched responses to individual survey questions. Confirmatory factor analysis and Structural Equation Modelling were used to identify and compare HBM latent variables describing farmers’ perceptions before and after interventions.
Results: Interventions resulted in 33% more chicks surviving, which resulted in increased sales of birds after they had reached market age. Farmers acknowledged value of protecting birds from ND after the interventions to increase their income (p=0.0002). Farmers were also more willing to
overcome barriers to vaccination (i.e. ‘catching’ birds for ND vaccinations) after the interventions (p=0.0388). Surprisingly, farmers became ‘less active’ in ensuring good biosecurity practices after the interventions: fewer farmers were willing to observe disease signs in village chickens (p<0.001) and fewer farmers buried dead birds (p<0.001). Interestingly, after interventions, fewer farmers were concerned about the risk of birds becoming infected with ND virus. The HBM component “perceived susceptibility of birds” was significantly reduced (p=0.014) after interventions: thus, less farmers were concerned about ND when using management practices associated with high risk of ND transmission (e.g. cock fights, no confinement).
Conclusion: Our results highlight the importance of implementing information campaigns alongside animal health interventions to ensure farmers maintain a high level of biosecurity
farmers’ knowledge and perceptions about ND. Marginal homogeneity tests were used to compare level of change in farmers' matched responses to individual survey questions. Confirmatory factor analysis and Structural Equation Modelling were used to identify and compare HBM latent variables describing farmers’ perceptions before and after interventions.
Results: Interventions resulted in 33% more chicks surviving, which resulted in increased sales of birds after they had reached market age. Farmers acknowledged value of protecting birds from ND after the interventions to increase their income (p=0.0002). Farmers were also more willing to
overcome barriers to vaccination (i.e. ‘catching’ birds for ND vaccinations) after the interventions (p=0.0388). Surprisingly, farmers became ‘less active’ in ensuring good biosecurity practices after the interventions: fewer farmers were willing to observe disease signs in village chickens (p<0.001) and fewer farmers buried dead birds (p<0.001). Interestingly, after interventions, fewer farmers were concerned about the risk of birds becoming infected with ND virus. The HBM component “perceived susceptibility of birds” was significantly reduced (p=0.014) after interventions: thus, less farmers were concerned about ND when using management practices associated with high risk of ND transmission (e.g. cock fights, no confinement).
Conclusion: Our results highlight the importance of implementing information campaigns alongside animal health interventions to ensure farmers maintain a high level of biosecurity
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages | 98 |
| Number of pages | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 07 Aug 2022 |
| Event | 16th International Symposium of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics 2022: ISVEE 16 - The Halifax Convention Centre, Halifax, Canada Duration: 07 Aug 2022 → 12 Aug 2022 https://venuewest.eventsair.com/isvee2022/ https://venuewest-my.sharepoint.com/personal/congress_venuewest_com/_layouts/15/onedrive.aspx?id=%2Fpersonal%2Fcongress%5Fvenuewest%5Fcom%2FDocuments%2FPublic%2FISVEE%202022%2FISVEE%2D2022%2DProceedings%2Epdf&parent=%2Fpersonal%2Fcongress%5Fvenuewest%5Fcom%2FDocuments%2FPublic%2FISVEE%202022&ga=1 (Proceedings) https://www.sciquest.org.nz/browse/publications/view/109 (Proceedings page) |
Conference
| Conference | 16th International Symposium of Veterinary Epidemiology and Economics 2022 |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | Connecting animals, people, and their shared environments |
| Country/Territory | Canada |
| City | Halifax |
| Period | 07/08/22 → 12/08/22 |
| Other | ISVEE is a global forum for those interested in veterinary epidemiology and economics, and related disciplines in the health and social sciences, that provides an opportunity for scientists, health policymakers and other professionals, to exchange information and discuss solutions to help advance health for people, animals, and ecosystems. The 2022 edition will provide insights into various approaches to addressing animal disease spread, including the One Health perspective as well as different modelling approaches to support the control of transboundary diseases such as peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and foot and mouth disease (FMD). |
| Internet address |
|