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Page 138 Akanbi et al. One Health Implement Res 2023;3:135-47 https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/ohir.2023.29

Table 1. Socio-demographic characteristics of dog owners interviewed in Ogun State
Variable Category Frequency Percentage (%)
Sex Male 235 47.0
Female 265 53.0
Tribe Yoruba 456 91.2
Igbo 35 7.0
Hausa 3 0.6
Others 6 1.2
Age (years) ≤ 32 273 54.6
> 32 227 45.4
Level of education No formal education 15 3.0
Primary to secondary education 266 53.2
Tertiary 219 43.8
Occupation Dog breeders 91 18.2
Unemployed 89 17.8
Students 88 17.6
Civil servants 61 12.2
Private business owners 171 34.2
Number of years of keeping dogs ≤ 5 260 52.0
> 5 240 48.0

Attitude of dog owners to rabies
More than half of the respondents (50.4%; 252 of 500) stated they could play with any dog, regardless of the
vaccination status. More than one-third of the dog owners (35.8%; 179 of 500) believed that free-roaming of
dogs was acceptable. About half (42.0%; 210 of 500 respondents) claimed reporting cases of dog bites at the
hospitals was unnecessary, and only one-quarter (25.2%; 126 of 500) thought it was not necessary to submit
samples from suspected rabid animals for laboratory testing [Table 3].

Practices of dog owners during rabies exposure and prophylaxis
More than two-thirds of the respondents (65.8%; 329 of 500) had direct contact with dogs on a daily basis,
but only about a fifth (20.8%; 104 of 500) practised good hand hygiene afterwards. The majority (60.0%; 300
of 500) allowed their dogs to roam freely in the neighborhood. Yet, less than a quarter (24.0%; 120 of 500)
had vaccinated their dogs up to date. The reasons given for non-compliance with up-to-date dog rabies
vaccination included lack of awareness (26.1%; 99 of 380), high cost of the vaccine (48.4%; 184 of 380
respondents), and unavailability (13.2%; 50 of 380) in their areas.

Of the 500 dog owners, 145 (29.0%) had experienced dog bites. Only 12 of these (8.3%, 12 of 145 dog bite
victims) practised the acceptable wound-washing procedure immediately after the incident; only 22.1%, 32
of 145 dog bite victims, used herbs or concoctions; only 23.4%, 34 of 145 dog bite victims, reported at a
medical facility. Six (4.1%) of the 145 dog bite victims took post-exposure rabies vaccine, but only four
(2.8%) of the victims completed the regimen. The reasons given by the two victims who failed to complete
the PEP regimen were the high cost of the human rabies vaccine and the long distance of the hospitals to
their homes [Table 4].

Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents and their knowledge of rabies
The age (P = 0.001), level of education (P = 0.02), number of years of keeping dogs (P = 0.001), and
occupation (P = 0.01) of the respondents were significantly associated with their knowledge about rabies.
Younger respondents, those with primary to secondary education, those who had kept dogs for fewer years,
and the unemployed had levels of knowledge associated with higher rabies risk [Table 5].