Assessing factors associated with owner's individual decision to vaccinate their dogs against rabies: A house-to-house survey in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Background and aim In rabies endemic area, dog vaccination is an effective way of controlling the disease in animals and humans if a minimum of 70% vaccination coverage is reached. This study aimed to identify dog demographics and household characteristics associated with dogs' vaccination against rabies in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Materials and methods A questionnaire was used to collect data from respondents with regard to their dogs' demographics and their household characteristics. Chi-square test and Fisher's exact test were performed to assess the association between explicative variables and the dogs' vaccination status. Results Overall, as per the findings of this study, it was determined that out of 424 dogs, 57.8% were reportedly vaccinated. The vaccination status was significantly associated with most of the household variables (e.g., gender of the respondent, age, level of education, main means of transportation, participation in a vaccination campaign, knowledge on rabies, and knowledge on dog vaccination) and the dogs' variables (breed of dog, dog origin, purpose for keeping, confinement status, and perceived behavior) (p 0.05). Conclusion Our study generated informative data showing that animal health workers could develop effective rabies vaccination strategy planning by examining owned dog demographics and their husbandry practices in households.