Iranian Veterinary Journal

Iranian Veterinary Journal

Knowledge, attitude, and practice of livestock farmers in Ilam province towards parasitic diseases and their drug control strategies

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Ali Reza Saberinejad 1
Mahdi Pourmahdi Borujeni 2
Javad Jamshidian 3
Mohammad Rahim Haji Hajikolaei 4
1 DVM Graduated from Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
2 Professor, Department of Food Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran
3 Assistant Professor, Department of Basic Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.
4 Professor, Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran.
10.22055/ivj.2024.461776.2724
Abstract
    Insufficient knowledge of livestock farmers about the epidemiology of parasitic diseases and inappropriate to use of antiparasitic drugs is one of the main obstacles in the control and prevention of these diseases. Therefore, this study investigates the knowledge, attitude, and practice of farmers in Ilam province regarding parasitic diseases and drug control. For this purpose, the current cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 farmers and the relationship between knowledge, attitude, and practice about parasitic diseases and different independent variables was performed using the Chi-square test and logistic regression. The results of the study showed that the relative frequency of awareness of the livestock farmers about the resistance of parasites to drugs is 75.7%, good knowledge is 52%, positive attitude is 50.7% and good practice is 50.3%. Factors related to farmers' awareness of parasites' resistance to drugs were farming location, gender, farmer's education, and farmer's occupation, while farming location, duration of farming, and level of satisfaction had a significant relationship with knowledge. In addition to these farmers' knowledge, farming location and herd size had a significant effect on attitude. Also, the farmer's attitude, the level of satisfaction, occupation, and herd composition had a significant effect on peractice. The current survey showed that the knowledge level of farmers about the resistance of parasites to drugs in Ilam province is high, but in the context of rotating use of anti-parasitic drugs, consulting a veterinarian for treatment, reading the drug brochure and observing the withdrawal time to remove them from animal products after use. They do not have acceptable practice. Also, this study showed that the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of farmers in this province is acceptable in terms of parasitic diseases so that a significant percentage of farmers are aware of the commonality of several parasitic diseases between humans and animals. They also knew about the introduction and symptoms of parasitic diseases, but they did not have adequate knowledge about the quarantine of new animals entering the herd, entering of some parasitic agents through the skin, the importance of spraying the area and anti-mite bath in preventing them. It is recommended according that farmers to receive training through veterinarians, retraining classes on new findings about parasitic diseases and ways of their prevention, control and treatment for veterinarians of the province conducted by the veterinary organization or training centers and their appropriate transfer to farmers.
Keywords
Attitude
Drug resistance
Knowledge
Parasitic diseases
Practice

Subjects

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