Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer

Journal of Ideas in Health

Articles
DOI: 10.47108/jidhealth.Vol7.Iss4.355
Submitted: 2024-07-09
Published: 2024-08-31

Community knowledge, attitudes, and practices about toxoplasmosis in Unguja Island, Tanzania

Department of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P. O. Box 3021, Morogoro, Tanzania.
Department of Veterinary Medicine and Public Health, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P. O. Box 3021, Morogoro, Tanzania
Institute of Pest Management, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P. O. Box 3110, Morogoro, Tanzania
Institute of Pest Management, Sokoine University of Agriculture, P. O. Box 3110, Morogoro, Tanzania
Attitude, Practices, Knowledge, Toxoplasmosis, Unguja Island, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Abstract

Background: Toxoplasmosis is among the globally neglected zoonotic diseases caused by Toxoplasma gondii. Humans get infected after ingesting or coming into contact with oocysts from the feces of infected cats. Illiteracy about the infection is one of the significant risk factors for its transmission. The study aimed to determine the community knowledge, attitudes, and practices that influence toxoplasmosis transmission in Unguja Island, Zanzibar, Tanzania.

Methods: The study used a cross-sectional design, which was done from February to April 2023. Semi-structured questionnaires collected data on 139 respondents' demographics, practices, knowledge, and attitudes regarding toxoplasmosis. The chi-square test was used to assess the statistical association between variables at a p-value of < 0.05.  

Results: Out of 139 recruited respondents, only 18.0% of respondents were aware of Toxoplasmosis. The study revealed several risk factors for Toxoplasmosis transmission, whereby 63.1% of the cat owners didn't deworm their cats regularly, 70.8% didn't clean the cat kennels, and 53.1% didn't wash their hands after cleaning kennels and touching a cat. Furthermore, out of all respondents, about two-thirds didn't drink treated water and 87.8% ate raw vegetables as salads. The study revealed both negative and positive attitudes concerning Toxoplasmosis, where 64.7% of respondents thought that cats cannot transmit pathogens to humans and 66.2% did not agree with people interacting with stray cats, respectively. There was an association of awareness of the disease's existence with high education levels (P value = 0.001) and sex (females) (P = 0.002).

Conclusion: The study revealed a low awareness of the existence of the infection despite the higher interaction of cats with humans in the study area. We recommend the provision of public health education focusing on how the disease is transmitted, the relationship of the disease with cats, the management of cat feces, clinical signs of the disease, its treatment, and control.



Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

  1. Innes EA. A brief history and overview of Toxoplasma gondii. Zoonoses Public Health. 2010;57(1):1-7. doi:10.1111/j.1863-2378.2009.01276.x.
  2. Sonar SS, Brahmbhatt MN. Toxoplasmosis: An important protozoan zoonosis. Vet World. 2010;3(9):436-439. doi:10.5455/vetworld.2010.436-439.
  3. Dubey JP. Toxoplasmosis-a waterborne zoonosis. doi:10.1016/j.vetpar.2004.09.005.
  4. Dubey JP, Jones JL. Toxoplasma gondii infection in humans and animals in the United States. Int J Parasitol. 2008;38(11):1257-1278. doi:10.1016/j.ijpara.2008.03.007.
  5. Jacquemard F. Clinical aspects of infection during pregnancy. Congenital toxoplasmosis. 2000:111-120. doi:10.1007/978-2-8178-0847-5_8.
  6. Remington JS, Thulliez P, Montoya JG. Recent Developments for Diagnosis of Toxoplasmosis. J Clin Microbiol. 2004;42(3):941-945. doi:10.1128/JCM.42.3.941-945.2004.
  7. Karimi G, Mardani A, Zadar M. Toxoplasma, and Blood Transfusion. Iran J Parasitol. 2014;9(4):597. Available: /pmc/articles/PMC4345102/
  8. Khurana S, Batra N. Toxoplasmosis in organ transplant recipients: Evaluation, implication, and prevention. Trop Parasitol. 2016;6(2):123-130. doi:10.4103/2229-5070.190814.
  9. Hosseini SA, et al. Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Wild Rats (Rattus rattus) in Northern Iran. 2021. doi:10.1155/2021/6655696.
  10. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC - Toxoplasmosis - Epidemiology & Risk Factors. 2019.
  11. Hamidi K. How do Rodents Play Role in Transmission of Foodborne Diseases? Nutr Food Sci Int J. 2018;6(2). doi:10.19080/NFSIJ.2018.06.555683.
  12. Chalo SL, Mafie EM, Mwega E, Mkupasi EM. Seroprevalence and molecular detection of Toxoplasma gondii infections in rodents and cats in Mbeya District, Tanzania. 2023.
  13. Wang ZD, et al. Toxoplasma gondii Infection in Immunocompromised Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Front Microbiol. 2017;8:389. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2017.00389.
  14. Cota GF, et al. Ventriculitis: a rare case of primary cerebral toxoplasmosis in AIDS patient and literature review. Braz J Infect Dis. 2008;12(1):101-104. doi:10.1590/S1413-86702008000100022.
  15. Paul E, et al. Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence among pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in Northern Tanzania. Trop Med Health. 2018;46(1):1-5. doi:10.1186/s41182-018-0122-9.
  16. Hajimohammadi B, et al. A Meta-Analysis of the Prevalence of Toxoplasmosis in Livestock and Poultry Worldwide. Ecohealth. 2022;19(1):55. doi:10.1007/s10393-022-01575-x.
  17. Mose JM, et al. A Review on the Present Advances on Studies of Toxoplasmosis in Eastern Africa. 2020. doi:10.1155/2020/7135268.
  18. Wana MN, et al. A Review on the Prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in Humans and Animals Reported in Malaysia from 2008–2018. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(13):1-23. doi:10.3390/ijerph17134809.
  19. Furtado JM, et al. Toxoplasmosis: a global threat. J Glob Infect Dis. 2011;3(3):281-284. doi:10.4103/0974-777x.83536.
  20. Mosawi SH, et al. Particularly neglected in countries with other challenges: High Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence in pregnant women in Kabul, Afghanistan, while a low proportion know about the parasite. PLoS One. 2019;14(10). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0223585.
  21. Tesfaye T, et al. Toxoplasmosis infection among pregnant women in Africa: A systematic review. 2021. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0254209.
  22. Chalo SL, et al. The community knowledge, awareness, and practices influencing transmission of toxoplasmosis in Mbeya District, Tanzania. J Ideas Health. 2023;6(2):836-846. doi:10.47108/jidhealth.vol6.iss2.278.
  23. Mboera LEG, et al. Mortality patterns of toxoplasmosis and its comorbidities in Tanzania: A 10-year retrospective hospital-based survey. Front Public Health. 2019;7:25. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2019.00025.
  24. National Bureau of Statistics - Population and Housing Census. Available from: https://www.nbs.go.tz/index.php/en/census-surveys/population-and-housing-census
  25. Desta AH. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Community Towards Zoonotic Importance of Toxoplasma Infection in Central Afar Region, North East Ethiopia. 2015. doi:10.11648/j.ijbse.20150306.12.
  26. Smereka J, et al. A multicenter survey on toxoplasmosis knowledge among pregnant women in Poland (the TOWER study). BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2018;18(1):1-5. doi:10.1186/s12884-018-2031-7.
  27. Laboudi M, et al. The first report of the evaluation of the knowledge regarding toxoplasmosis among health professionals in public health centers in Rabat, Morocco. Trop Med Health. 2020;48(1):1-8. doi:10.1186/s41182-020-00208-9.
  28. Mareze M, et al. Socioeconomic vulnerability associated to Toxoplasma gondii exposure in southern Brazil. PLoS One. 2019;14(2). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0212375.
  29. Chalo SL, et al. The community knowledge, awareness, and practices influencing transmission of toxoplasmosis in Mbeya District, Tanzania. J Ideas Health. 2023;6(2):836-846. doi:10.47108/jidhealth.vol6.iss2.278.
  30. Mahfouz MS, et al. Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Toxoplasmosis among Jazan University Female Students. 2018. doi:10.4103/sjmms.sjmms_33_17.
  31. Uddin AM, et al. First report of knowledge and practices towards toxoplasmosis among cat owners: A cross-sectional survey in Bangladesh. Zoonoses Public Health. 2023;70(2):134-145. doi:10.1111/zph.13012.
  32. Ait Hamou S, et al. The Level of Knowledge about Toxoplasmosis among University Students in Rabat in Morocco. J Parasitol Res. 2021;2021:5553977. doi:10.1155/2021/5553977.
  33. Al-Hellaly EM, Chyad RT. Knowledge of Iraqi Pregnant Woman about Toxoplasmosis and their Practice Towards Its Prevention. J Univ Babylon Pure Appl Sci. 2019;27:308-315.
  34. Onduru OG, et al. Evaluation of the level of awareness of congenital toxoplasmosis and associated practices among pregnant women and health workers in Tanzania’s Temeke district in Dar es Salaam. Afr Health Sci. 2019;19(4):3027-3034. doi:10.4314/ahs.v19i4.24.
  35. Dubey JP, Beattie CP. Toxoplasmosis of animals and man. Toxoplasmosis Anim man. 1988.
  36. Robert-Gangneux F, Dardé ML. Epidemiology of and diagnostic strategies for toxoplasmosis. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2012;25(2):264-296. doi:10.1128/CMR.05013-11
  37. Lepczyk CA, Lohr CA, Duffy DC. A review of cat behavior in relation to disease risk and management options. Appl Anim Behav Sci. 2015;173:29-39. doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2015.07.002.
  38. Hussain MA, Stitt V, Szabo EA, Nelan B. Toxoplasma gondii in the food supply. Pathogens. 2017 Jun;6(2). doi:10.3390/pathogens6020021.
  39. Majid A, Shafique F, Rehman A, et al. Detection of toxoplasmosis in pets and stray cats through molecular and serological techniques in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. BMC Vet Res. 2021;17(1):1-8. doi:10.1186/s12917-021-03064-9.


How to Cite

1.
Paul C, Mkupasi E, Martin M, Katakweba A. Community knowledge, attitudes, and practices about toxoplasmosis in Unguja Island, Tanzania . jidhealth [Internet]. 2024 Aug. 31 [cited 2024 Oct. 10];7(4):1106-13. Available from: https://www.jidhealth.com/index.php/jidhealth/article/view/355

issn

Journal of Ideas in Health

Four Issues Annually

www.jidhealth.com

eISSN: 2645-9248

Founded: 2017

call

Make a Submission

Make a Submission

ToBeRev

road

google

pkpindex

oai

base

tools



cc

doaj

mendeley

doi

jisc

Keywords