Social acceptance and practicality of cattle-administered endectocides for malaria control in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa

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Abstract Background: Malaria continues to be a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in Africa and conventional malaria control strategies such as indoor residual spraying (IRS) and insecticide-treated bednets (ITNs) are increasingly losing their effectiveness. Consequently, the development of alternative or supplementary strategies is required. One potential strategy is the use of cattle/livestock-administered endectocides to control vector mosquitoes that feed outdoors on livestock. However, since this strategy requires support from local communities and livestock owners consenting for their animals to be treated, it can only be implemented if acceptance by affected communities is sufficiently high. The aim of this study was to assess the social acceptance and practicality of the use of cattle/livestock-administered endectocides in the malaria endemic villages of Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa, where malaria incidence is high. Methods: Questionnaires were administered in the Vhembe District in 103 livestock-owning households from four villages, namely, Gumbu, Malale, Manenzhe and Bale. The assessment included questions on the acceptability of the strategy, the type and number of livestock owned, distances between houses and kraals (overnight pens) as well as previous use and awareness of endectocides. The results were analysed using descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression. Results: The types of livestock owned by the participants comprised, cattle, goats, sheep and donkeys, with the most dominant being goats (n = 1040) and cattle (964). The majority of the participants had their kraals less than 10 meters from their houses. Most participants (72.5%) reported that they were already using chemicals to treat their livestock for parasites. About 33.3% of the livestock owners reported that they or their family members had previous infections of malaria. All participants indicated that they would accept the implementation of the strategy and would give consent for their animals to be treated by endectocides. Conclusions: The use of cattle/livestock-administered endectocides appears to be a feasible and acceptable approach for control of animal-feeding malaria vector species in the malaria endemic villages of Vhembe District in Limpopo Province. This is based on a high percentage of rural residents keeping suitable livestock close to their homes and expressing willingness to use endectocides for mosquito control.

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