Livestock Handling Practices and Barriers to Vaccine Adoption in East Gojam Zone, Ethiopia

Livestock plays multiple roles in supporting communities’ livelihood, economic development, and social capital. However, they remain vulnerable to infectious diseases. To address this, a cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted in the East Gojam zone of Amhara Regional State to assess livestock handling practices and generate relevant information for animal keepers and other stakeholders. The study sites were selected purposively based on livestock production potential, disease incidence, and accessibility. Eighty-one household farmers and twelve professionals were included. Data analyzed with SPSS version 20 software. About 56.8% of the respondents let their animals graze freely, and only 14.8% didn’t mix their animals with others. Regarding vaccine uptake to prevent disease, about 56.3% of the respondents didn’t vaccinate one or more animal species available in their households. Farmers preferred to vaccinate cattle over other animals (χ2=71.4, p-value=0.000), showing a greater willingness to pay for cattle vaccines and the anthrax vaccine compared to other types. Dogs were the least vaccinated animals. The main reasons for not vaccinating their animals were lack of awareness (54.5%), absence of vaccines (6.8%), being far away from the vaccination point (6.8%), and vaccines not available in small doses (4.5%). Vaccine provision does not guarantee uptake at the community level. Therefore, the vaccine uptake barriers and failure of proper management practices need to be addressed. Vaccine formulations need to be revised to allow vaccination of small numbers without wastage. Home vaccination is required for chickens and pet animals.