Perceptions of livestock value chain actors (VCAs) on the risk of acquiring zoonotic diseases from their livestock in the central dry zone of Myanmar.

OBJECTIVES: The Central Dry Zone (CDZ) is one of the most important livestock production areas of Myanmar. However, there is an eminent lack of information on the attitudes and traditional beliefs of local farmers and livestock supply chain actors in CDZ of Myanmar on the public health implications. A modified data collection instrument of the Health Belief model was developed to investigate attitudes, beliefs and barriers to the application of recommended zoonotic disease prevention. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHOD: Data analyses were conducted considering a two-phase multilevel mixed effect binomial generalized linear models modelling approach. RESULTS: The availability of information about zoonosis to supply chain actors influenced their confidence to implement preventive actions (OR = 1.5, p = 0.045 for cattle diseases; OR = 1.5, p = 0.022 for village chicken diseases). Supply chain actors were more likely aware of zoonosis transmitted by cattle compared to livestock farmers (OR = 0.3, p = 0.005 for cattle farmers), while people not rearing or trading small ruminants and/or poultry were less likely to be aware of the zoonotic risk associated with these animals (p < 0.005). Information on zoonosis transmitted from small ruminants was mainly promoted through farmers (p = 0.032), while information on zoonotic diseases that can be obtained from chickens was disseminated through farmers, local authorities and the media. Nevertheless, appropriate hand hygiene measures (i.e. cleaning of hands after touching, cutting, cooking meat) (OR = 7.7, p < 0.001 for zoonotic small ruminant diseases; OR = 1.6, p = 0.073 for zoonotic village chicken diseases) and treating of sick animals (OR = 7.3, p < 0.001 for small ruminant zoonotic diseases; OR = 2.2, p = 0.031 for village chicken zoonotic diseases) increased the confidence of small ruminant and village chicken owners to prevent these zoonotic infections. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study indicate that while gender and the availability of information on zoonotic risks play an important role on the perceived threat of zoonoses, the practice of prevention methods influenced the confidence of value chain actors (VCAs) on zoonoses prevention.

Discerning risk and uncertainty with "better insurance" - How animal health interventions for village chickens influence farmers' perceptions on the prevention of poultry diseases.

High mortality in young chicks and deaths from Newcastle disease (ND) are the two major constraints to village chicken production in low-and middle-income countries. A 12-month intervention study was conducted across 174 households in two townships of Central Myanmar, to reduce these chicken mortalities. Interventions included ND vaccinations of village chickens and improved chick management. Following the Health Belief Model (HBM) framework, 81 village chicken farmers involved in the intervention study were repeatedly surveyed before and after the interventions to determine the level of change in farmers' knowledge about ND, perceptions about susceptibility and severity of ND virus infection, perceptions about benefits and barriers of ND vaccination, as well as farmers' actions to improve the health status of their birds and to improve biosecurity and ND control measures. Marginal homogeneity tests were used to compare the level of change in farmers' matched responses to individual survey questions before and after the interventions. In addition, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling was used to create latent variables describing farmers' perceptions about susceptibility and severity of ND in their birds, farmers' perceptions about the barriers and benefits of conducting ND vaccination as well as farmers' cues to action and self-efficacy before and after the interventions. Interventions resulted in 33% more chicks surviving, which resulted in increased sales of birds after they had reached a market age of 7 months. After the interventions, farmers acknowledged the value of protecting birds from ND to increase their income (p = 0.0002). Farmers were also more willing to overcome barriers to vaccination (i.e., 'catching' birds for ND vaccinations) after the interventions (p = 0.0388). Interestingly, after the interventions, fewer farmers were concerned about the risk of their birds becoming infected with ND virus through cock fights and non-confinement (p = 0.0008 and p = 0.00022, respectively), and farmers were more uncertain about the susceptibility of their birds to ND virus infection after the interventions. Surprisingly, farmers became 'less active' in ensuring good biosecurity practices after the interventions: fewer farmers were willing to observe disease signs in village chickens (p < 0.001) and fewer farmers buried dead birds (p < 0.001). Perceived susceptibility was the only HBM component that was significantly reduced (p = 0.014) after the interventions: thus, less farmers were concerned about ND even when using management practices associated with high risk of ND transmission (e.g., cook fights, no confinement). Our results highlight the importance of information campaigns and extension work to ensure farmers maintain a high level of biosecurity when animal health interventions are implemented.

How can we compare multispecies livestock rearing households? - an analysis of the impact of health and production parameters on multispecies livestock rearing outcomes.

BACKGROUND: The Central Dry Zone (CDZ) of Myanmar is a critical region of livestock production. This region supports 10 million people whose livelihoods depend on small-scale, dry-land agriculture, but it is also one of the poorest regions of Myanmar. Little is known about the constraints to animal health in multi-species livestock farms in this region or the relationships between husbandry practices and measures of the success of livestock rearing such as income, and successful health management. RESULTS: In this study, we describe associations between husbandry practices and animal health problems affecting different body systems. We also develop a biosecurity and livestock disease prevention index by taking account of different activities (i.e. treatment, vaccination, reducing disease transmission practice, sanitation) that can be compared between livestock species, estimate the income generated from livestock production, and identify factors influencing these parameters. Cross-sectional study was used to collect data on livestock production and health from cattle (N = 382), sheep, goat (N = 303) and village chicken (N = 327) farmers in 40 villages of the CDZ. Survey-design based techniques and F-statistics, ordinal, and binomial regression were used for data analysis. Our results indicate that a significant proportion of farmers' income in the CDZ comes from crop production (43.2%) and livestock production (23.1%) and the rest of the farmers' income is derived from trading, supported by other relatives and employment. Our results indicate that animal health management practices, herd/flock size, and experience of farmers contributed significantly to the presence of animal health problems, in particular related to the physical, respiratory and digestive systems. Animal health management was usually conducted in traditional ways. Among different livestock species farms, cattle farms (cattle median BDPI: 45; IQR: 35-55) practised better biosecurity than other livestock species farms (i.e. small ruminant and village chicken farms) (small ruminant and village chicken BDPI: 10; IQR: 0-20). Interestingly, the ownership groups (i.e. rearing singly or multispecies) did not show any impact on biosecurity and disease prevention index of the farms. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified good practice households and these findings will be useful for designing intervention trials to improve the production and health outcomes evaluated in this study.

What drives small-scale farmers to vaccinate their multiple livestock species animals against common infectious diseases in Myanmar?

Livestock rearing is an important income source for small-scale farmers in Myanmar, but Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) and Newcastle disease (ND) are major constraints to livestock production. A study was conducted to identify perceptions of farmers about FMD and ND disease risks and perceptions about vaccination practices by using the modified health belief model. The majority of livestock farmers (>70%) reported that they were aware of the risk and impact of FMD and ND and were willing to vaccinate their livestock (>60%). Focusing on three main livestock farmer groups, about 17.0% of cattle, 15.4% of village chicken, but only 2.3% of small ruminant owners, indicated that the non-availability of vaccinations in the villages was the major constraint to vaccinations (p<0.001), while in contrast twice as many small ruminant farmers compared to cattle and village chicken farmers indicated they had no knowledge about vaccinations and no funds to conduct vaccinations. Limited accessibility to vaccines and vaccinators was related to size of villages (p = 0.001 for cattle; p = 0.027 for small ruminants; p = 0.005 for village chicken). Willingness to vaccinate small ruminants against FMD was associated with the perceived impact of the disease on sales and accessibility of information about vaccination. Accessibility to information about ND vaccination influenced the willingness of village chicken farmers to conduct vaccinations. In addition, beliefs in the effectiveness of vaccinations played a major role in the willingness to carry out vaccinations on both, cattle (ß = 0.3, p = 0.018) and village chicken farms (ß = 0.5, p<0.001). Our study highlights that policies that increase the accessibility of vaccines and the dissemination of information about disease prevention and vaccination practices in villages of all sizes, have the potential to increase FMD and ND vaccination rates and thereby reduce outbreak occurrence in Myanmar. On the other hand, indirect factors, such as village size strongly influenced the availability of vaccinations.

Characteristics of Livestock Husbandry and Management Practice in the Central Dry Zone of Myanmar.

The central dry zone of Myanmar is the area with the highest density of small-scale livestock farmers under harsh environmental condition. In this study, we describe and quantify ownership patterns for various livestock species and characterised management and husbandry practices of small-scale farmers. In addition, we identify the husbandry factors associated with selected outcome indicators, 'herd or flock size' and 'purpose of rearing'. A total of 613 livestock farmers in 40 villages were interviewed. Multispecies rearing was common with 51.7% of farmers rearing more than one livestock species. Rearing animals to be sold as adults for slaughter (meat production) was more common for small ruminants (98.1%) and chickens (99.8%) compared to cattle (69.8%). Larger cattle herds were more likely to practice grazing (p < 0.001) and to employ labour from outside the household to manage cattle than medium or small herds (p = 0.03). Patterns of grazing differed significantly between seasons (p < 0.01) for cattle, but not for small ruminants and village chicken. Overall, multispecies rearing and species-specific husbandry practices are used to raise livestock under harsh environmental conditions. Our results reveal that herd/flock size and purpose of rearing across different livestock species were significantly associated with feeding and housing practices and experience of farmers.

Prevalence and Antimicrobial Resistance of Salmonella Isolates from Chicken Carcasses in Retail Markets in Yangon, Myanmar.

A cross-sectional investigation was conducted concerning prevalence, antimicrobial resistance, multidrug resistance patterns, and serovar diversity of Salmonella in chicken meat sold at retail in Yangon, Myanmar. The 141 chicken meat samples were collected at 141 retail markets in the Yangon Region, Myanmar, 1 November 2014 to 31 March 2015. Information on hygienic practices (potential risk factors) was retrieved via checklists. Salmonella was isolated and identified according to International Organization for Standardization methods (ISO 6579:2002) with minor modifications. Twelve antimicrobial agents belonging to eight pharmacological groups were used for antimicrobial susceptibility testing (disk diffusion method). Salmonella was recovered from 138 (97.9%) of the 141 samples. The isolates were most frequently resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (70.3% of isolates), tetracycline (54.3%), streptomycin (49.3%), and ampicillin (47.1%). Resistance was also found to chloramphenicol (29.7%), amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (17.4%), ciprofloxacin (9.4%), tobramycin (8.7%), gentamicin (8%), cefazolin (7.2%), lincomycin-spectinomycin (5.8%), and norfloxacin (0.7%). Among the 138 Salmonella isolates, 72 (52.2%) were resistant to three or more antimicrobial agents. Twenty-four serovars were identified among the 138 Salmonella-positive samples; serovars Albany, Kentucky, Braenderup, and Indiana were found in 38, 11, 10, and 8% of samples, respectively. None of the potential risk factors were significantly related to Salmonella contamination of chicken carcasses. This study provides new information regarding prevalence and antimicrobial resistance and Salmonella serovar diversity in retail markets in Yangon, Myanmar.

Influenza A(H9N2) Virus, Myanmar, 2014-2015.

Routine surveillance of influenza A virus was conducted in Myanmar during 2014-2015. Influenza A(H9N2) virus was isolated in Shan State, upper Myanmar. Whole-genome sequencing showed that H9N2 virus from Myanmar was closely related to H9N2 virus of clade 4.2.5 from China.