Epidemiologic Survey Around Dog Bites in Plateau State, Central Nigeria

Abstract

Rabies is a zoonotic viral fatal disease of warm-blooded animals and occurs due to the bites of animals like dogs, cats, hyenas, jackals against their victims. Rabies remains threat to more than half of the world’s population, killing more than 59,000 people yearly mostly in Asia and Africa whilst most of the victims are children. Domestic dogs are responsible for causing over 99% of all human cases. Rabies can be transmitted through biting, scratching wounds, licking of broken skin and mucous membrane from rabid animal saliva to humans and other animals. In this study, ten farmers were randomly chosen and participated from the list of willing farmers from 5 local government areas LGAs, making a total of 50 farmers from the Berom, Tarok and Fulani communities in Plateau state. The population of those farmers who had no form of education combine with those who had least form of education 29(58%) are higher than those who attended secondary and tertiary 21(42%). 36(72%) revealed that ruminants have been the major victim of dog bites cases in the various communities and only 8(16%) said dogs are the most victims. 25(50%) of the respondents says animal can survive and live a normal life after bitten by a dog and 40(80%) believe that human can survive and live a normal life after bitten by a dog. Only 25(50%) of the respondents take their human victims of dog bites to the hospital for proper medical attention; 13(52%) of them had no idea on what to do with their human victims to dog bites before visits to the hospital, 5(20%) wash and dress the wounds of dog bites only and 6(28%) of the respondents’ resorts to using traditional methods of caring to dog bites wounds before hospital visits. In conclusion, this present study revealed that dog bite is an indiscriminate public health menace in both humans and animals, with ruminants being the most affected. Majority of the farmers had no idea on what to do with the wounds of dog bite on humans and their animals and this require for more public enlightenment/awareness about the fatality of the disease, its transmission and how the virus persists amongst human and animal populations. The dangers and risks, dog bites pose to the public health in any given community must be clearly explained to the public across all communities in the state and the whole country