Poll Study for Cross-sectional Analysis of Population Data on Rodent Zoonoses, Specifically Leptospirosis, in The North-Central Region of Algeria

Lekhal, Lila; Medrouh, Bachir; BOUKERT, Razika; Kaidi, Rachid; Khelef, Djamel

doi:10.21608/ejvs.2024.328398.2426

Poll Study for Cross-sectional Analysis of Population Data on Rodent Zoonoses, Specifically Leptospirosis, in The North-Central Region of Algeria

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Laboratory of Biotechnologies related to Animal Reproduction, Institute of Veterinary Sciences, Saad Dahleb University Blida -1-, Algeria

² Livestock Management, Production and Animal Health Division, Research Centre for Agropastoralism, Djelfa, Algeria

³ Saad Dahlab University

⁴ High national veterinary school, oued smar, Algiers, Algeria.

10.21608/ejvs.2024.328398.2426

Abstract

The main objective of our study was to highlight the Blida region population knowledge status about rodent zoonosis, mainly leptospirosis. Data were collected through printed questionnaires applied to a sample of 252 interviewees. The data were entered and coded into tables in Microsoft Excel 2013 and then transferred into the R program for advanced analysis, frequencies were also calculated. The result showed that 91.3% of the respondents confirmed the transmission of the diseases from rodents to humans, however the knowledge about the main risk factors of transmission was insufficient; 38.5% of them stated that contamination occurs through rodent’s bite, while, only 6.35% of the respondents cited contamination through contaminated food and 0.4 % of them cited contamination through sewage water. Plague was the most mentioned (23.01%) zoonosis. Some of the interviewees cited respectively, Malaria and Cholera (0.4%, 1.98%); however, these diseases are not associated with rodents. Regarding prophylaxis; 32.9% declared that cleaning and hygiene are necessary to avoid rodent’s zoonosis transmission. Concerning leptospirosis, only 14.7% Heard or knew about the disease with urine as a principal factor of transmission cited by just 4.37% and jaundice as symptom by only 2% of the participants. Our study indicates the potential knowledge of the population of Blida about rodent zoonosis and its spread, which needs to be increased.

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