Psychosocial investigation of individual and community responses to the experience of Ovine Johne's Disease in rural Victoria

Relationship between animal health and livestock farmers' wellbeing in Ghana: beyond zoonoses

INTRODUCTION

Livestock production is a key livelihood source for many people in developing countries. Poor control of livestock diseases hamper livestock productivity, threatening farmers' wellbeing and food security. This study estimates the effect of livestock mortalities attributable to disease on the wellbeing of livestock farmers.

METHODS

Overall, 350 ruminant livestock farmers were randomly selected from three districts located in the north, middle and southern belts of Ghana. Mixed-effect linear regression models were used to estimate the relationship between animal health and farmer wellbeing. Farmer wellbeing was assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF tool, as the mean quality-of-life in four domains (physical, psychological, social, and environmental). Animal health was assessed as annual livestock mortalities to diseases adjusted for herd size, and standardized in tropical livestock units to account for different ruminant livestock species. We adjusted for the potential confounding effect of farmers' age, sex, educational attainment, farmland size, socio-economic status, perception of disease risk to herd, satisfaction with health, previous experience of disease outbreaks in herds, and social support availability by including these as fixed effects, and community as random effects, in a pre-specified model.

RESULTS

Our results showed that farmers had a median score of 65.5 out of 100 (IQR: 56.6 to 73.2) on the wellbeing scale. The farmers' reported on average (median) 10% (IQR: 0 to 23) annual herd mortalities to diseases. There was a significantly negative relationship between increasing level of animal disease-induced mortality in herds and farmers' wellbeing. Specifically, our model predicted an expected difference in farmers' wellbeing score of 7.9 (95%CI 1.50 to 14.39) between a farmer without any herd mortalities to diseases compared to a (hypothetical) farmer with 100% of herd mortalities caused by diseases in a farming year. Thus, there is a reduction of approximately 0.8 wellbeing points of farmers, for the average of 10% disease-induced herd mortalities experienced.

CONCLUSIONS

Disease-induced livestock mortalities have a significant negative effect on farmers' wellbeing, particularly in the physical and psychological domains. This suggests that veterinary service policies addressing disease risks in livestock, could contribute to improving the wellbeing of livestock dependent populations, and public food security.

The influence of trust and social identity in farmers' intentions to report suspected emergency disease outbreaks

This study examines the influence of trust on farmers' intentions to report suspected disease on their farm. Disease reporting is essential to detect and respond to disease early, thereby minimising its impacts on agriculture businesses, the economy, and the environment. Trust has been identified as an important factor influencing farmers' disease reporting intentions but has not been quantitatively investigated. We use an established model of trust-the Integrative Model of Organisational Trust (IMOT)-to conceptualise how trust influences disease reporting intentions. We also examine how social identity is related to trust and disease reporting. Australian plant, livestock, and aquaculture farmers (N = 41) completed an online questionnaire developed from existing validated measures and we also developed two new measures for disease reporting intentions. Trust in government positively and significantly predicted farmer intentions to report suspected disease outbreaks, explaining 26% of the variance. For every one-unit increase in trust, disease reporting intentions increased by over four times. Results also support the role of shared values and group membership as aspects of social identity that influence trust and disease reporting. These results highlight the importance of government decision-makers developing and maintaining trust with farmers to support early detection and response to emergency disease outbreaks.

Missed Opportunities? Covid-19, Biosecurity and One Health in the United Kingdom

Whatever we read about Covid-19, the word unprecedented is not far away: whether in describing policy choices, the daily death tolls, the scale of upheaval, or the challenges that await a readjusting world. This paper takes an alternative view: if not unpredictable, the crisis unfolding in the United Kingdom (UK) is not unprecedented. Rather, it is foretold in accounts of successive animal health crises. Social studies of biosecurity and animal disease management provide an "anticipatory logic" - a mirror to the unfolding human catastrophe of Covid-19, providing few surprises. And yet, these accounts appear to be routinely ignored in the narrative of Covid-19. Do social studies of animal disease really have no value when it comes to guiding and assessing responses to Covid-19? To answer this question, we describe the narrative arc of the UK's approach to managing Covid-19. We then overlay findings from social studies of animal disease to reveal the warnings they provided for a pandemic like Covid-19. We conclude by reflecting on the reasons why these studies have been paid minimal attention and the extent to which the failure to learn from these lessons of animal health management signals a failure of the One Health agenda.

Assessing the Social and Psychological Impacts of Endemic Animal Disease Amongst Farmers

Outbreaks of exotic animal disease, such as Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) are associated with social and psychological impacts amongst farmers. Whilst claims of similar impacts for endemic diseases have been made, there is little empirical evidence to justify these assertions. This paper provides a descriptive analysis of the social and psychological impacts of bovine Tuberculosis (bTB) in Wales. Specifically, the paper focuses on farmers subjective well-being and presenteeism—their propensity to work suboptimally when suffering mental health problems. Results from longitudinal qualitative interviews with 16 beef and dairy farmers reveal how they derive satisfaction from their work and their emotional connection to animals, whilst the weather and red tape are most likely to affect their quality of life. Data from a postal survey (n = 582) using three measures of SWB, however, finds mixed evidence that animal disease is associated with farmer well-being. For all farmers surveyed, there were no significant differences in well-being between farms with and without bTB. For those farms in areas with high bTB prevalence, two of the three measures of subjective well-being showed lower levels of well-being for farmers with a history of bTB (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the paper discusses the policy and methodological implications for future studies of farmer well-being and animal disease.

Exploring dairy producer and veterinarian perceptions of barriers and motivators to adopting on-farm management practices for Johne's disease control in Ontario, Canada

Motivating uptake of management change recommendations requires knowledge of the barriers and motivators influencing producer behavior. This study investigated dairy producers' and veterinarians' perceptions of the barriers and motivators influencing the adoption of Johne's disease (JD) control recommendations in Ontario, Canada. Eight focus groups, 6 with dairy producers and 2 with veterinarians, were conducted and thematically analyzed. Both producer and veterinarian groups identified physical resources (i.e., time, money, infrastructure) and producer mindset (i.e., perceived priority of JD, perceived practicality of JD control recommendations) as key barriers to adoption. Producers tended to prioritize JD control on their farm based on their lived experiences with JD and their view of the public's concern about JD. Many agreed that JD recommendations should focus on biosecurity more holistically and emphasize the broader health benefits of limiting calf exposure to many fecal-orally transmitted diseases. Producers also highlighted that some recommendations for on-farm change (i.e., keeping a closed herd, buying from low-risk herds) were unrealistic or too difficult to perform and often disrupted their habits or routine. In contrast, veterinarians suggested that most recommendations were practical and are routinely recommended. Participants suggested both extrinsic (i.e., incentives, premiums, penalties and regulations, and extension and communication) and intrinsic (i.e., pride and responsibility) methods for motivating producers. This study highlights the importance of producer mindset in on-farm change and offers insights into the attitudes and perceived barriers influencing on-farm change.

Mental Health During Environmental Crisis and Mass Incident Disasters

Veterinarians responding to animal health-related incidents are in the same class as first responders and should be aware of similar mental health concerns. Cultivating resiliency, identifying symptoms, and linking individuals to support systems are practical strategies to provide positive outcomes for veterinarians facing difficult experiences. This article explores veterinarians as first responders and farm stress; an overview of mental health responses to trauma; strategies and interventions for individuals, families, communities, and veterinarians; a discussion of boundaries and threshold for managing crisis; barriers and considerations for service provision; and a summary and discussion of future research and curriculum opportunities.

Control of paratuberculosis in sheep and goats

Control of paratuberculosis in small ruminants can be easily achieved by vaccination. Vaccination prevents clinical cases and thus may lead to increased production at a highly profitable benefit-to-cost ratio. Because bacterial shedding is greatly reduced, vaccination can help control the general contamination risks. There are no restrictions to vaccination in sheep, but potential interference with diagnosis of tuberculosis must be taken into account in goats. Other control strategies have failed, because of either high costs or lack of efficacy on a large scale.

Factors influencing psychological distress during a disease epidemic: data from Australia's first outbreak of equine influenza

Background

In 2007 Australia experienced its first outbreak of highly infectious equine influenza. Government disease control measures were put in place to control, contain, and eradicate the disease; these measures included movement restrictions and quarantining of properties. This study was conducted to assess the psycho-social impacts of this disease, and this paper reports the prevalence of, and factors influencing, psychological distress during this outbreak.

Methods

Data were collected using an online survey, with a link directed to the affected population via a number of industry groups. Psychological distress, as determined by the Kessler 10 Psychological Distress Scale, was the main outcome measure.

Results

In total, 2760 people participated in this study. Extremely high levels of non-specific psychological distress were reported by respondents in this study, with 34% reporting high psychological distress (K10 > 22), compared to levels of around 12% in the Australian general population. Analysis, using backward stepwise binary logistic regression analysis, revealed that those living in high risk infection (red) zones (OR = 2.00; 95% CI: 1.57–2.55; p < 0.001) and disease buffer (amber) zones (OR = 1.83; 95% CI: 1.36–2.46; p < 0.001) were at much greater risk of high psychological distress than those living in uninfected (white zones). Although prevalence of high psychological distress was greater in infected EI zones and States, elevated levels of psychological distress were experienced in horse-owners nationally. Statistical analysis indicated that certain groups were more vulnerable to high psychological distress; specifically younger people, and those with lower levels of formal educational qualifications. Respondents whose principal source of income was from horse-related industry were more than twice as likely to have high psychological distress than those whose primary source of income was not linked to horse-related industry (OR = 2.23; 95% CI: 1.82–2.73; p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Although, methodologically, this study had good internal validity, it has limited generalisability because it was not possible to identify, bound, or sample the target population accurately. However, this study is the first to collect psychological distress data from an affected population during such a disease outbreak and has potential to inform those involved in assessing the potential psychological impacts of human infectious diseases, such as pandemic influenza.

Differences in public emotions, interest, sense of knowledge and compliance between the affected area and the nationwide general population during the first phase of a bird flu outbreak in Israel

OBJECTIVE

In March 2006, 298,000 cases of birds infected with bird flu were destroyed in nine rural settlements in Israel, out of around 1.2 million birds that were destroyed within these settlements and in a radius of 3 km. The nationwide population was instructed to take preventive measures against the spread of infection. This study aims to compare the emotions, interest, sense of knowledge and compliance, of the population in the affected area with the nationwide general population, during the first phase of a bird flu outbreak in Israel.

METHODS

We conducted a telephone survey among two randomly selected, representative samples of adults. One sample involved 500 adult residents of the nationwide area; and the other sample involved 103 adult residents of the affected area during the first phase of the outbreak. We measured perceived emotions, interest, sense of knowledge and compliance. We analyzed the differences in these parameters between the affected area and the nationwide population using chi-square and t-test analysis. A p value of less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

RESULTS

The compliance for using measures of precaution was high and not significantly different between the affected area and the nationwide population. The interest in bird flue and the sense of knowledge were significantly higher in the affected area compared to the nationwide population (p<0.05). A misconception of a high human to human transmission was significantly higher in the nationwide population compared with the affected area (p<0.05). The levels of stress and fear perception were significantly lower in the affected area compared to the nationwide population (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Interest, sense of knowledge and emotions of the population are different in the affected area during the early phase of bird flu outbreak compared with the general population in the same country. Authorities must consider these differences while planning the strategy of population education during the early phase of a bird flu outbreak.

Natural disasters, climate change and mental health considerations for rural Australia

This paper addresses a very salient feature of rural life and landscapes in Australia, natural disasters, and offers a psychological perspective on individual and community perceptions, responses, preparedness and planning. The convergent perspective offered reflects research and practice findings and insights from social and environmental psychology, as well as clinical, health and community psychology. The objective is to briefly characterise how these psychological approaches frame the psychological and social reality of these threats and events, and to canvas what insights and evidence-based best practice psychology have to offer allied professionals and paraprofessionals, and rural communities, as they experience and come to terms with the vagaries and extremes of the Australian environment.

Racial disparities in sense of community and health status: implications in community-based participatory interventions targeting chronic disease in African Americans

This study examined the relation between sense of community (SOC), sociodemographic characteristics, and health status to inform community-based interventions designed to prevent and reduce chronic disease in African Americans. A telephone survey was conducted with 1463 randomly selected residents in Nashville, Tenn. Respondents were majority female (69%), African American (59%), and single (59%), with a mean age of 55 (+/-17.61 years). African Americans have lower overall SOC scores, or lower scores on the domains related to perceived influence over community and sharing of common community values compared to Whites. High rates of chronic disease and low SES, combined with a low SOC, can hinder efforts to reduce and eliminate disparities. The goal of community-based participatory initiatives is to create programs that are sustainable by the target community after the funding is gone. Thus, to maximize the success, uptake, and sustainability of disease-specific interventions, it is imperative to incorporate assessment of SOC, identify factors that depress SOC, and engage in community collaboration to develop a plan to improve SOC.