Baseline epidemiology and associated dog ecology study towards stepwise elimination of rabies in Kwara state, Nigeria

Understanding domestic dog population dynamics and ecology is necessary for any effective rabies control program. This study was conducted as part of the baseline epidemiological studies necessary for the establishment of the Kwara Rabies Rapid Alert System "KRRAS". The aim of this study was to determine the dog population structure of Kwara State by assessing the dog ownership, vaccination status, and prevalence of dog bites. A total of 1,460 questionnaires were administered to respondents in the three senatorial zones of the state using Open Data Kit (ODK) between June 2019 to January 2020. Of the 1460 households surveyed, 293 (20.1%) owned at least one dog with an average of 2.25 dogs per household. The male to female ratio was 2.2:1 and 85% (n=250/293) of the owned dogs were local breeds. A total of 785 dogs was enumerated (659 dogs from 293 households and 126 free-roaming dogs) and 7811 persons which resulted in a dog-human ratio of 1:9.95. The estimated dog population is 376,789 (95% CI: 343,700 - 379,878). The dog anti-rabies vaccination coverage was 31% (n=92/293). The prevalence of dog-bite was 13% (n=193/1460) of which only 27% of the victims (n=61/225) received post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). The ethnicity of respondents had a significant impact on dog ownership. Yorubas more often (OR: 2.2-5; 95% CI: 1.2 - 12.4; p < 0.001) owned dogs than other tribes. The vaccination status of owned dogs was greatly impacted by the level of education of the respondents (OR: 5.03; 95% CI: 1.5073 - 16.8324; p < 0.001); the breed of the dog with exotic dogs being more vaccinated (OR: 2.8; 95% CI: 0.7150 - 10.857; p < 0.001) and the confinement of the dog (OR: 2.07; 95% CI: 1.1592 - 3.7037; p < 0.001). Always confined dogs were twice more vaccinated than non-confined dogs. The results of the study showed that the vaccination coverage needs to be increased, the number of dog bites needs to be reduced, the number of non-confined dogs needs to be reduced and stray dog control strategies need to be implemented. The findings of this study showed very low vaccination coverage for dogs which is below the 70-80% target recommended for herd immunity by the world health organization.