Awareness and Attitude Toward Zoonoses with Particular Reference to Anthrax Among Cattle Owners in Selected Rural Communities of Zimbabwe S.M. Chikerema, 1 G. Matope, 2 and D.M. Pfukenyi 1 Abstract We conducted a cross-sectional study to assess cattle owners’ awareness, perceptions, and attitudes toward zoonoses, with particular emphasis regarding anthrax. Data on awareness of zoonoses, clinical signs of anthrax in animals and human, its routes of transmission and methods of prevention, the families’ consumption habits of anthrax-infected carcasses, and other family activities that increase exposure to anthrax were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. A total of 41.4% (135/326) of the farmers were from high-anthrax-risk districts, whereas 28.5% and 30.1% were from medium- and low-risk districts, respectively. Overall, the level of awareness amongst the farmers for the named zoonoses were rabies (88.7%), anthrax (71.5%), and brucellosis (20.9%). Except for anthrax, awareness of other zoonoses did not differ significantly ( p > 0.05) among the district categories. Farmers from anthrax high-risk districts were significantly more aware of anthrax compared to those from moderate- ( p = 0.000) and low- ( p = 0.000) risk districts. All of the farmers were aware that anthrax occurs in cattle, and 73% indicated the presence of unclotting blood oozing from natural orifices as a consistent finding in cattle that died of anthrax, whereas 86.7% of them indicated the presence of skin lesions as the most common sign of the disease in humans. The good efficacy of human anthrax treatment (58.3%), slaughter of moribund cattle and selling of meat from cattle found dead to unsuspecting consumers (59.8%), reluctance to lose animals (47.9%), and forgetting about anthrax (41.1%) were cited as the major reasons for consuming anthrax-infected carcasses. Given that 75.2% of cattle owners indicated that they would not consume meat from cattle found dead, because they were discouraged by veterinary authorities, introducing meat inspection services is likely to have a positive impact in preventing human anthrax outbreaks in Zimbabwe. Key Words: Anthrax—Attitudes—Cattle owners—Knowledge—Perceptions—Zimbabwe—Zoonoses. Introduction I n Zimbabwe, anthrax, brucellosis, rabies, bovine tu- berculosis (bTB), trypanosomiasis, and cysticercosis are known to occur in animals (Chambers 1989, Bingham et al. 1999, Van den Bossche et al. 2001, Pfukenyi et al. 2009, de Garine-Wichatitsky et al. 2010, Matope et al. 2010, Chiker- ema et al. 2012, Gomo et al. 2011), and all of these are among the 7 diseases that have been categorized as ‘‘neglected zoonoses’’ in Africa (WHO 2005, 2007). The occurrence of rabies, brucellosis, and anthrax in humans has also been documented (Anonymous 1957, Nass 1992, Mwenye et al. 1996, Bingham et al. 1999, Pfukenyi et al. 2007, Gombe et al. 2010). The impact of anthrax on animal and human health can be devastating (Hugh-Jones 1999). Anthrax occurs en- demically in Zimbabwe, and over 10,000 human cases sec- ondary to unprecedented outbreaks in cattle and 182 human deaths were reported during the civil war between 1979 and 1980 (Lawrence et al. 1980, Davies 1982, Nass 1992). Re- cently, anthrax in humans has been reported from several districts dotted countrywide, including Gokwe (64 cases) (DVS 2007), Mbire (43 cases), and Mt. Darwin (33 cases) (Anonymous 2011). Human behavior, such as skinning and cutting meat of infected carcasses, not using protective clothing, eating contaminated meat, and belonging to a religious sect that allows eating of meat from animals that have died of un- known causes, have been reported to be important risk 1 Department of Clinical Veterinary Studies and 2 Department of Paraclinical Veterinary Studies, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Zimbabwe, Mount Pleasant, Harare, Zimbabwe. VECTOR-BORNE AND ZOONOTIC DISEASES Volume 13, Number 4, 2013 ª Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2011.0916 243