A Survey on Knowledge and Practices of Brucellosis among Occupationally Exposed Livestock Workers in Namibe Province, Angola

Abstract The aim of the study was to characterize the level of knowledge and practices among slaughterhouse and small municipal abattoirs workers and breeders in the Namibe province of Angola. A cross sectional questionnaire based survey was conducted during 2012 on 323 livestock workers working with cattle, including 131 slaughterhouse and butchers workers and 192 breeders. The chi-square test for independence, the nonparametric Mann–Whitney test, and logistics regression models were used. Only 11.5% of the livestock workers had heard of brucellosis, being that slaughterhouse and butcher workers (16%) were better-informed than breeders (8.3%). In livestock workers knowledge was very poor (16.1%), with correct answers being more frequent among slaughterhouse and butchers workers (20.2%) than between breeders (13.8%), although this was not statistically different (p=0.170). As to the knowledge of practices, most values were below 50% with a high discrepancy between sampled groups. This study observed the knowledge of brucellosis among livestock workers with high contact with cattle is insufficient, although slightly higher in slaughterhouse and butchers workers probably due to a higher education. Increasing the level of information and education on brucellosis is necessary to implement specific interventions.