Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

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Browsing Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology by Subject "Agropastoral communities"

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    Knowledge, attitudes and practices on rift valley fever among pastoral and agropastoral communities of Ngorongoro in the rift valley ecosystem, Tanzania, conducted in 2021/2022
    (PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2023) Issae, Amina Ramadhani; Katakweba, Abdul Ahmed Selemani; Kicheleri, Rose Peter; Chengula, Augustino Alfred; Kasanga, Christopher Jacob
    Epidemics of Rift Valley fever (RVF), a mosquito-borne zoonotic disease caused by RVF virus, have been linked to exceptionally heavy rainfall and widespread flooding. The disease is endemic in most African countries and pose a major global health risk. Given that the dis- ease was reported in various districts of Tanzania, we hypothesized a lack of knowledge about RVF epidemiology among agropastoral and pastoral communities. The research took place in a period of 7 months, from July, 2021 to January, 2022. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) among the agropastoral and pastoral communities of Ngorongoro district towards RVF. The survey employed a mixed method system, which included 3 focus groups (each comprised 12 individuals), 20 key informant interviews and administration of questionnaire (N = 352) in agropastoral and pastoral com- munity members of Ngorongoro district. The relationship between demographic characteris- tics and communities’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding RVF was observed using a multiple logistic regression model. A total of 352 participants were interviewed, with the majority (67.61%) being male and 32.39% being female, majority (39.5%) attending pri- mary school, and majority (58.2%) being pastoralists. The findings showed that only 36.1%, 38.64% and 16.19% of participants had good knowledge, positive attitude and good prac- tices regarding RVF respectively. Significant demographic factors related with knowledge included: gender (OR = 1.9, CI = 1.03–3.56, P = 0.041), education levels (primary: OR = 3.97, CI = 2–8.16, P = 0.000; secondary: OR = 15.27, CI = 5.5–46.23, P = 0.000 and college: OR = 34. 23, CI = 5.4–67.22, P = 0.000), and locality (Pinyinyi: OR = 0.14, CI = 0.05–0.38, P = 0.000 and Sale: OR = 0.14, CI = 0.04–0.44, P = 0.001). Male participants showed signifi- cant positive attitude towards RVF compared to female (OR = 2.37, CI = 1.35–4.17, P = 0.003). Individuals with formal education showed a significant positive attitude toward RVF compared to informal (OR>1, P<0.05). Agropastoral members showed a significant nega- tive attitude toward RVF compared to pastoralists (OR = 0.51, CI = 0.26–0.99, P = 0.048).The calculated RVF prevention practices values were insignificantly (P = 0.853) correlated with knowledge values. The significant correlation between knowledge and attitude, as well as attitude and practice were found (P<0.05). In general, the study revealed poor knowl- edge, negative attitude and poor practices of communities towards RVF. The lack of regular education programs to make the communities aware of the disease was implicated for these findings. This recommends that provision of health education should be a long-term practice among agropastoral and pastoral communities in order to prevent further RVF out- breaks in Tanzania.
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    Molecular epidemiology of Leptospira species among Agropastoral communities living in Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem, Tanzania
    (Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2015) Muller, Shabani Kililwa
    Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonotic infectious disease which affects humans and animals worldwide as it causes febrile illness in humans. The disease has been reported in a number of human-livestock-wildlife interfaces of Northern and Eastern Tanzania. Very little is known of many zoonotic disease conditions in the research naive areas of Western and Southern Tanzania. This study aimed at detecting the prevalence of Leptospira species among agro-pastoralists at the human-animal interface areas of Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem. Microscopic agglutination test (MAT) was used to detect antibody against six Leptospira antigens including local serogroups Icterohaemorrhagiae, Ballum, Grippotyphosa, Sejroe and reference serogroups Hebdomadis and Lora. Samples with MAT titers ≥ 1:160 were scored as positive while MAT titers between 1:20 and 1:80 were scored as exposed to Leptospira and absence of agglutination titers was scored as negative. Of the 267 samples tested 80 (30%) were positive, 57 (21.3%) were negative and 130 (4 8.6%) were exposed to leptospiral infection. Infection rate in adults was higher 51 (63.75%) compared to children 29 (36.25%), P<0.05. Circulating serogroups were; Hardjo (15.7%); Icterohaemorrhagiae (8.98%), Grippotyphosa (4.87%), Hebdomadis (3.37%), Australis (1.49%) and Ballum (1.12%). Samples that were positive or scored as exposed by MAT were further tested using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) targeting 16S ribosomal gene. Pathogenic Leptospira was detected in 33 (15.5%) out of 212 while no saprophytic Leptospira species was detected. Sequencing alignment based on 16S ribosomal gene suggested Leptospira interrogans, kirshinei and uncultured Leptospira clone species as circulating species among agro-pastoralists of Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem. These findings suggest that in the Katavi leptospirosis in man is likely acquired from environment, probably by indirect contact with contaminated water or soil. This study also revealed that serological diagnosis of leptospirosis should be considered in the diagnosis on non- malarial febrile illness in agro-pastoralists living in Katavi-Rukwa ecosystem, Tanzania.