DOG POPULATION STUDIES AND EPIDEMIOLOGY OF RABIES IN CAMEROON

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Date
1992-11
Authors
TONG, JOHN CHUO
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Abstract
The data on dog population studies revealed that many households (70.5%) in the study area kept dogs, though the reasons for owning dogs differed slightly as people in Bamenda kept dogs mainly as guards (80.8%), while dogs in Wum were mostly used for both guarding and hunting (49.7%). Dissatisfaction for dogs was seen in 32.6% of the households that did not own dogs while majority of them (64.4%) said they liked dogs but were either poor or still planning to acquire one. Only 3% of the households said it was against their religion/culture to keep dogs. Majority of the dogs in both towns were young with 61.9% between three months to two years and 13.7% less than three months. There was a large preponderance of local dogs (91.6%) compared to other breeds and more males (55.0%) than females (43.77c) Dog owners fed and handled their dogs in 90.8% of the households that owned dogs and this is an indication that the accessibility of owned dogs for an antirabies vaccination campaign could be quite high. However, the attitude of dog owners towards antirabies vaccination of their dogs differed in the two towns perhaps because of the difference in their socio-economic status. About 68.2% of the households that owned dogs in Bamenda had vaccinated their dogs against rabies, while in Wum, 57.8% of the households complained of poverty, ignorance of vaccination and other reasons. Households acquired their dogs from several sources with 57.9% of those that owned dogs acquiring them through purchase. Puppies delivered by owned dogs had a high survival rate although the rate was higher for dogs in Bamenda (78.1%) than in Wum (09.2%). Although a stray dog count was not done, Bamenda appeared to have more unowned or stray dogs than Wum according to the respondents in these towns. The attitude of people in both towns towards dogs was good and most people (94.9%) were aware of rabies and its major mode of transmission. The. overall dogto- human ratio was 1:8.0 and ranged from 1:6.6 in Bamenda to 1:8.5 in Wum. The average number of dogs per household in all the sampled households was 1.2 with a range of 1.1 in Bamenda to 1.3 in Wum. The prevalence of previous dog bites was higher in Bamenda (29.4%) than in Wum (14.1%). Dog ownership was more common among civil servants (36.1%) and farmers {25.07c) compared to businessmen (22.8%), technicians (8.2%) and others (7.9%). The use of dogs as guards ranked highest (56.3%) amongst reasons for keeping dogs, while poverty (37.9%;) and hatred for dogs (32.6%) were the major reasons for not owning dogs The data on rabies revealed that canine rabies cases were increasing (37 to 42), while the numbers pets vaccinated against rabies each year was decreasing (15,941 to 10,123) from 1985/86 to 1989/90. The distribution of the number of confirmed rabies cases in dogs, the number of biting dogs observed for rabies, the number of biting dogs that died during observation and the number of antirabies vaccination varied from one Province to another and within the Provinces. Provinces with more rural inhabitants had low rabies and antirabies vaccination activities, while those with majority of inhabitants in urban areas had high activities. However, the rabies situation was different for human beings as more deaths due to rabies were seen in Provinces with a majority of rural population. Canine and human rabies cases were reported every year in Cameroon with an average of 36.8 confirmed cases in dogs and 22.4 deaths due to rabies in human beings each year. A total of 435 rabies cases were reported in the country, 278 (63.9%) of them in dogs and 157 (36.1%) in human beings. The ratio of dog-to-human rabies was 1:0.6 but ranged from 1:0.1 to 1:3.3 throughout the period under study. The difference between canine and human rabies cases was, however, not significant (p > 0.05).
Description
A thesis submitted to the Post Graduate School Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, in partial fulfilment for the award of the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria. November, 1992.
Keywords
DOG POPULATION,, EPIDEMIOLOGY,, RABIES,, CAMEROON
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