A cross sectional study of knowledge, attitude and practices regarding zoonotic diseases among agricultural workers

Introduction: Zoonoses are the naturally transmitted infections between vertebrate animals and humans. Material & Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding zoonotic diseases among agricultural workers using a structured questionnaire to obtain information on knowledge, awareness about zoonotic diseases, source of infection, modes of transmission, hygienic practices and treatment methods followed by the study subjects. A total of 139 agricultural workers were selected from Saripalli village, Vizianagaram district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Selection of study subjects was done on basis of presence of live stock. Results: The mean age of the study population is 43.63 + 2.84 years. Proportion of those who knew that infections transmit from livestock to humans were 96.4%. 75.37% had knowledge about transmission of zoonotic diseases and in this 58.2% believe that these diseases are transmitted through direct contact. Regarding transmission ofzoonotic diseases through consumption of milk and meat was only 27.33% and 18.23% which was found very low.77% of respondents showed positive attitude towards use of protective and safety measures but in reality, only 32% of them showed positive practice. Only 58.9% were practicing regular hand washing and only 44.6 % clean the animal sheds with ordinary water. 67.20% of them pay a visit to health care facility while 13.8 % use traditional methods and remaining 19 % do nothing when any of the animal in their livestock gets sick. Conclusion: Major proportion of agricultural workers have adequate knowledge about zoonotic diseases and its transmission but lack proper practice methods in prevention and control of these diseases.