Assessment of the Community Awareness and Exposure to Highly Pathogenic Avian Human influenza in Wet-land Areas of Ethiopia

Abstract Background: The avian influenza virus has different subtypes which have the potential to cause disease in animals and humans. Human cases with influenza A (H5N1), A (H5N6) and A(H7N9) viruses, have been reported to WHO and various influenza A(H5) subtypes continue to be detected in birds globally. Little is known about the types of exposure that result in human infections. In Ethiopia, risk assessment studies were not conducted and the awareness of the community and the risk of exposure for potential avian influenza is undetermined. The aim off this survey is to assess the level of the community awareness and the risk for human exposure to avian influenza viruses (HPAI) in the wet land areas of Ethiopia. Method: The survey was conducted from February - April 2018 in the wet land areas of Ethiopia by using a standard questionnaire and purposive random sampling method. Epi info version 7.0 and SPSS (V.20) were applied for data analysis. Result: Of the total 200 respondents 94.7% don’t know about the mode of transmission and 43.5%, 27%, 16.9% of the respondents believed that HAI it transmitted by inhalation of air droplet (breathing), contact with ill person and eating raw poultry meat and egg products.36.2% of respondents believed that Human avian influenza is preventable by keeping hand hygiene, followed by respiratory hygiene (28%) and environmental hygiene (19.3%). However, 68.6% had close contact with animals (poultry) and high exposure to raw animal products. Conclusion: The awareness level of the community in the mode of transmission, risk factors and preventive measures is very low while the exposure for infected birds, food products remaining high. Further risk assessment studies and community awareness creation on the prevention and control of highly pathogenic avian influenza is recommended. Key words: Avian Influenza, Exposure, Ethiopia