Knowledge, attitudes and practices on brucellosis among stakeholders along milk supply chain in selected cities of Tanzania

Abstract

Brucellosis is a neglected and re-emerging zoonotic disease of public health importance, particularly in developing and resource-limited countries. This study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding brucellosis among individuals involved in milk supply chain in Dar-es salaam, Mbeya and Mwanza cities of Tanzania. A cross-sectional study was conducted from August to December 2024 employing structured questionnaire to collect data from dairy cattle farmers (n-161), food hawkers (n=84), milk vendors (n=89) and milk consumers (n=185). The collected data were analyzed using ANOVA while Chi square/Fisher Extract was used to assess the association between variables. Overall, 85.92% of respondents were adults, had secondary (43.16%), more than 10 years of experience (65.51%), had heard about brucellosis (53.76%, but moderately (49.90%) aware on the effects of brucellosis in animals and humans. Majority (73.29%) of farmer admitted the act of drinking raw milk may transmit brucellosis from animals to humans and pasteurization is among the methods of prevention of the disease. While food hawkers, milk vendors and consumers had little awareness of brucellosis. Dairy farmers practiced udder (100%) and hands washing (90.25%) before milking, wear gloves when handling parturition (65.22%) and had proper disposal of fetal membranes (66.46%). Washing hands before and after handling milk (92.29%) and had safe milk storage (63.20%) were practiced by the majority of participants. Significant associations (p<0.05) were observed between socio-demographic characteristics with knowledge, attitude and practices toward brucellosis. Females, experienced and those with higher education were aware of the disease, had positive attitudes, and demonstrated good practices toward brucellosis. Conclusively, although the study highlights variable awareness of brucellosis, gaps still exist on knowledge, attitudes and practices in food hawkers, milk vendors, and consumers. Therefore, awareness creation on brucellosis transmission, prevention and control is important in the community.