Iranian livestock breeders’ knowledge, attitude, practice, and behavioral determinants related to brucellosis prevention

Brucellosis is a zoonotic disease that affects animals and humans. Its transmission to humans occurs through various routes such as consumption of infected animal products or unprotected close contact with secretions or different parts of live or dead infected animals. This study aims to report Iranian livestock breeders' awareness, attitude, practice, and behavioral determinants related to Brucellosis prevention. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019 among 450 livestock breeders in Beyraq, a suburb of Tabriz city. The Brucellosis Prevention Questionnaire (BPQ) was used to collect data. Statistical analysis performed using SPSS-23. The BPQ, consisting of 53 items, had acceptable psychometric properties (Content Validity Index = 0.90, Content Validity Ratio = 0.74, Impact Score = 4.30, Intra-class Correlation Coefficient = 0.885, Composite Reliability = 0.895, and Standard Error of Measurement = 5.448). The study surveyed 450 livestock breeders, with an average age of 51.68 ± 16.4 years.. Participants with a history of brucellosis reported that their last occurrence of the disease, on average, was 7.03 ± 5.83 years ago.Livestock breeders had moderate knowledge levels (mean score = 17.13) and positive attitudes (mean score = 3.86) towards Brucellosis prevention, but their practice level was relatively low (mean score = 15.9). Significant differences were observed in awareness (p-value <0.001), attitude (p-value = 0.03), and practice (p-value <0.001) scores between those who had undergone previous prevention measures compared to those who did not. Participants with a higher education level had higher awareness, attitude, and practice scores. An analysis of variance test (ANOVA) showed that job level had a significant effect on awareness (p-value <0.001) and practice (p-value <0.001) scores, with free jobs having higher scores than other jobs. Findings suggest that Iranian livestock breeders have insufficient knowledge about Brucellosis prevention despite positive attitudes and practices. To prevent the spread of Brucellosis, it is necessary to increase awareness and educate livestock breeders about preventive measures.