Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Cattle Owners Towards Bovine Tuberculosis in and Around Nekemte Town, Western Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Bovine tuberculosis is listed among the top three animal diseases that cause major animal and public health concerns in Ethiopia. Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAPs) of farmers towards bovine tuberculosis in Ethiopia remain insufficiently studied, especially among local cattle owners. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the level of cattle owners' KAPs. METHODS: A cross-sectional study with 200 randomly selected study participants was carried out using a face-to-face interview from December 2023 to May 2024 in and around Nekemte town, western Ethiopia. The statistical analysis was performed using Stata version 16. Chi-square analysis was used to assess the association between independent variables and owners' KAPs, and multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify potential predictor variables. RESULT: Among the total respondents, 34.5% and 32.0% of them knew about bovine tuberculosis and the zoonotic importance of it, respectively, while 18.8% of the respondents knew that the causative agent of bovine tuberculosis is bacteria. The KAPs of the respondents were associated with their education level. Those respondents who attended college/university and secondary education were 5.76 (1.46-22.66) and 3.26 (1.03-12.08) times more knowledgeable about bovine tuberculosis than those who did not attend a formal education. Those respondents who had completed college/university had 7.34 (2.33-23.11), secondary school had 3.34 (1.15-9.66), and primary school had 4.54 (1.48-13.89) times more likely to have a desirable attitude than those who did not attend formal education. With regard to practices, those respondents with a college/university, secondary or primary education had 6.74 (1.97-23.10), 3.53 (1.11-11.27) and 5.13 (1.52-17.32) times more appropriate practices, respectively, than those who did not attend a formal education. CONCLUSION: The respondents had a low level of KAPs regarding bovine tuberculosis in and around Nekemte town, Ethiopia. Raising awareness through education and training campaigns, both in human and animal health sectors, using a one health approach, is necessary.