Background: Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a severe, often fatal illness in humans and nonhuman primates caused by the Ebola virus. Treatment and vaccine are under development, hence prevention is paramount. Design of effective prevention interventions requires an understanding of the factors that expose communities at risk. It was based on this that we investigated the Baka community (Pygmies) of Abong-Mbang Health District in tropical rain forest of Cameroon.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with participants randomly selected from13 villages in Abong-Mbang by multi-stage cluster sampling. A questionnaire was administered to them to collected demographic information, data on knowledge of EVD, their feeding and health-seeking behaviour. Data was analyzed using the chi-square test. Knowledge of EVD was assessed using an 8 item Morisky Scale. An adapted Threat Capability Basic Risk Assessment Guide was used to determine their risk of exposure to infection.
Results: A total of 510 participants, most of who were hunters (31.4%), farmers (29.8%), and had primary education (62.7%), were included in this study. Although 83.3% participants had heard of EVD, most did not know its cause. Their source of information was mainly informal discussions in the community (49%). Misconceptions were identified with regards to knowledge on the cause and mode of transmission. Only 43.1% accepted EVD could be transmitted from human-to-human. Generally, participants’ knowledge on EVD was poor. Demographic factors such as level of education, occupation and ethnic group significantly affected knowledge on EVD. The majority of participants were at a very high risk of exposure to infection as they consumed various forms of bush meat and were involved in other risky practices as scarification and touching of corpses. Although over half of participants seek medical care, most of them preferred traditional medicine. Socio-cultural and service related factors were deterrent factors to medical care.
Conclusion: Participants generally had poor knowledge of EVD and were at high risk of to infection. We recommend rigorous sensitization campaigns in study area to educate the population on EVD and clarify the misconceptions identified. EVD surveillance is recommended particularly as outbreaks continue to be reported in the Congo Basin