The acceptability of rat trap use over pesticides for rodent control in two poor urban communities in South Africa

Roomaney Rifqah, Ehrlich Rodney, Rother, Rother Hanna-Andrea

Description

Rodent infestations are a public health problem in poor urban communities. The use of illegal street pesticides to control rodent infestations with resulting poisonings is an additional public health concern receiving limited attention in many developing countries, including South Africa. Methods Participants in a household intervention in two poor urban areas of Cape Town, South Africa, received two high quality rat traps. Reported in this article are the results of a follow-up survey conducted six months after distribution to assess community perceived acceptability of using rat traps instead of toxic pesticides (N = 175). Results Of the 175 respondents that were followed up, 88% used the traps and only 35% continued using pesticides after the intervention. The analysis identified perceived effectiveness of the traps (prevalence odds ratio 18.00, 95% confidence interval 4.62 to 70.14), being male (prevalence odds ratio 8.86, 95% confidence interval 1.73 to 45.19), and the willingness to buy traps from an informal market (prevalence odds ratio 17.75, 95% confidence interval 4.22 to 74.57) as significantly associated with the acceptance of trap use. Conclusions Rat traps, when introduced to poor urban communities, are acceptable as an alternative to toxic pesticides for rodent control. Sustainability of trap use, however, needs to be researched, especially cost and cost-benefit.

Sujets

• Mousetrap
• Shanty town

Informations

• Publié par: biomed
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 7
• Langue: English

Extrait

Roomaney
etal.EnvironmentalHealth
2012,
11
:32
http://www.ehjournal.net/content/11/1/32

RESEARCH

OpenAccess

Theacceptabilityofrattrapuseoverpesticides
forrodentcontrolintwopoorurban
communitiesinSouthAfrica
RifqahRoomaney
1,2
,RodneyEhrlich
1
andHanna-AndreaRother
1*

Abstract
Background:
Rodentinfestationsareapublichealthprobleminpoorurbancommunities.Theuseofillegalstreet
pesticidestocontrolrodentinfestationswithresultingpoisoningsisanadditionalpublichealthconcernreceiving
limitedattentioninmanydevelopingcountries,includingSouthAfrica.
Methods:
ParticipantsinahouseholdinterventionintwopoorurbanareasofCapeTown,SouthAfrica,received
twohighqualityrattraps.Reportedinthisarticlearetheresultsofafollow-upsurveyconductedsixmonthsafter
distributiontoassesscommunityperceivedacceptabilityofusingrattrapsinsteadoftoxicpesticides(N=175).
Results:
Ofthe175respondentsthatwerefollowedup,88%usedthetrapsandonly35%continuedusing
pesticidesaftertheintervention.Theanalysisidentifiedperceivedeffectivenessofthetraps(prevalenceoddsratio
18.00,95%confidenceinterval4.62to70.14),beingmale(prevalenceoddsratio8.86,95%confidenceinterval1.73
to45.19),andthewillingnesstobuytrapsfromaninformalmarket(prevalenceoddsratio17.75,95%confidence
interval4.22to74.57)assignificantlyassociatedwiththeacceptanceoftrapuse.
Conclusions:
Rattraps,whenintroducedtopoorurbancommunities,areacceptableasanalternativetotoxicpesticides
forrodentcontrol.Sustainabilityoftrapuse,however,needstoberesearched,especiallycostandcost-benefit.
Keywords:
Rattraps,Illegalpesticides,Informalsettlements,Acceptability,Rodentcontrol

Background
Peoplecommonlyrelyonpesticides(whichincludes
Rodentinfestations,associateddiseasesandcontrolrodenticides)tomanagerodentinfestationsastheyare
measuresareaglobalpublichealthconcernreceivingperceivedtobethemosteffectivemethodofcontrol[8].In
littleattentionandoftenlefttoindividualstomanage.poorcommunitiesinSouthAfrica,peoplefrequentlyuse
Rodentinfestationspredominantlyaffecttheurbanpoor
‘
illegalstreetpesticides
’
whichoftenarehazardouspesti-
becauseconditionsinpoorcommunitiespromotero-cidesmeantpredominantlyforagriculturalusebutwhich
dentbreeding,suchaspoorsanitationanddrainage,aredecantedintocontainerswithoutlabellingandsoldfor
opendrains,uncollectedsolidwaste,improperstoragedomesticuseatinformalmarkets[9].Thesepesticidesare
offoodandovercrowdingofhomes[1,2].Theepidemi-cheap,easilyavailable,andeffectiveastheyaretoxic,but
ologyofrodent-bornediseaseslinksrodentswithaarenotmeantfornorregisteredfordomesticpestcontrol
numberofdiseasessuchas,plague,leptospirosis,Lassa[10].Acommonlyusedstreetpesticide,aldicarb,issotoxic
Fever,salmonellosis,rat-bitefever,viralhemorrhagicthata60mgsachetcouldpotentiallykillsixchildrenthat
feversandmurinetyphus[3-5].Thesediseasesareweighunder10kg[10].Theuseofillegalpesticidessuchas
transmittedthroughrodentbites,contaminationoffoodaldicarbforrodentcontrolhasbeenlinkedtohumanpoi-
withrodenturineorbyrodentsactingasvectorsforsoningsinpoorsettingsinSouthAfrica,Brazil,Zimbabwe,
otherorganismssuchasfleas[2-7].theUnitedStatesandIsrael[2,10-17].Othercommonly
usedstreetpesticidesinSouthAfrica,suchaschlorpyrifos
1
*Correspondence:[e-mail]
andmethamidophos,arebannedinseveralcountries
ASnczhioooRld.o,fOPbusbelircvaHtoerayl,th79a2n5d,CFaapmeilyToMwend,icSionue,thUnAifvriecrasityofCapeTown,
becauseofthehighnumberofrelatedpoisoningcases[10].
Fulllistofauthorinformationisavailableattheendofthearticle
©2012Roomaneyetal.;licenseeBioMedCentralLtd.ThisisanOpenAccessarticledistributedunderthetermsoftheCreative
rCeoprmomduocntisoAnttirnibauntiyonmeLidcieunms,ep(rhottvipd:/e/cdrethateivoercigoinmalmownosr.korisg/lpircoepnesrelsy/bciyt/e2.d0.),whichpermitsunrestricteduse,distribution,and

Roomaney
etal.EnvironmentalHealth
2012,
11
:32
http://www.ehjournal.net/content/11/1/32

Unprotectedexposurestopesticidescanresultinsevere
acuteeffects(suchasfatalpoisoning)andchronichealth
effects(suchasbirthdefects,cancers,asthma,repro-
ductivecomplicationsandneurologicaldefects)[18-22].
Pesticidehealtheffectsstudiesarewelldocumentedfrom
agriculturalregions[23-27]andfromurbanareas[28-29].
Thehighriskofpoisoningbyrodenticideshasbeen
recognisedasapublichealthconcernbytheUnitedStates
EnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA).In2011,theEPA
issuedabanontheresidentialuseofmosttoxicratand
mousepoisonsbecauseoftherashofaccidentalexposures
tothesesubstances[30].InSouthAfrica,similaraction
hasnotbeentakeneventhoughthereseemstobean
increasingnumberofchildrentreatedforpoisoning
attributedtotheintoxicationofstreetpesticides[9,10,19].
Non-toxicrodentcontrolmethodsareneededinthese
atriskcommunitiesasthereisanoveruseofpesticides
forrodentcontrol[8].Thereare,however,fewstudies
whichdocumentpeople
’
sattitudestowardsusingrat
trapsinsteadofpesticides.Studiesinruralareashave
indicatedthatrattrapsareanacceptablealternative
controlmethodforrodentsinterferinginagricultural
production[8,31].Nosimilarstudieshavebeen
conductedforrodentproblemsinurbanareas.
Theuseofnon-toxicalternativessuchasrattraps
requiresashiftinintentionsforpeopletoacceptthat
thesealternativesareaseffectiveandfeasibleaspesti-
cides.Severalfactorshavebeenidentifiedthatareuseful
forunderstandingtrapadoptionandacceptabilityin
poorcommunities,suchaswhetherthetrapsareseento
beeffective,whethertheyareeasytouse,whetherthere
isanadditionalbenefittousingthemandtheextentof
therodentinfestation[32-36].
Thisstudyaimedtoinvestigatewhetherhouseholdsin
poorurbancommunitieswouldusetrapsasarodentcon-
trolalternativeandtoidentifyfactorsinfluencingrespon-
dents
’
intentiontoswitchfrompesticidestorattraps.Itwas
thusanacceptabilitystudy.Determiningwhichfactorsinflu-
encetheuseofnon-toxicrodentcontrolhasthepotential
tolowertheuseofpesticides,especiallystreetpesticides,
andreducetheriskofchildpoisoningandotherrisks.

Methods
Thisresearchformedpartofalargerstudythatinvesti-
gatedthelinkbetweenillegalstreetpesticidesandchild
poisoningsintwopoorurbanareasinCapeTown,
SouthAfrica[9,10].Thelargerstudyidentifiedthe
studysites,PhilippiandKhayelitsha,asareaswherenu-
merouschildpoisoningshadoccurredduetostreet
pesticidesusedforrodentcontrol[9].Bothareashave
highratinfestationsasaresultofpoorsanitation,infre-
quentrefuseremovalandovercrowdedlivingconditions
[9].Householdsweretheunitsofsamplingratherthan

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individuals.ThestudywasapprovedbytheUniversity
ofCapeTown
’
sHumanResearchEthicsCommittee.
Studydesign
Thestudydesignforthisresearchwasacross-sectional
survey.Attheendofabaselinestudy,respondentswere
givenanintervention(rattraps).Afollowupsurveywas
conductedsixmonthslatertoassesstheuseoftherat
trapsandwhetherpeopleintendedtousetrapsand/or
pesticidesinthefuture(seeAdditionalFile1).Thisart-
iclepresentsonlythefindingsfromthefollow-upsurvey
andcomparesrespondentswhosaidtheywoulduserat
trapsinthefuturetothosewhosaidtheywouldnot.
Asampleoftwohundredhouseholdswasselected,with-
outaformalsamplesizecalculation,asapracticalsample
sizethatwouldyieldusefulinformation.Systematicran-
domsamplingidentifiedahousefromeverytenthhouse
startingfromthelocalcommunitycentreineacharea.
Thehouseholdheadoradultathomewasinterviewed
afterobtainingwrittenconsent
.
Afterparticipatinginthe
baselinesurvey,eachfamilyreceivedtwofreerattrapsand
instructionsonhowtosetthetraps,alongwithademon-
strationfromafieldworker.Therattrapsdistributedhada
higherspringactionthanconventionaltrapsusedinthese
communitieswhichincreasedtheireffectivenessinrat
catching(Figure1).Thesetrapsarenotusuallyavailablein
outletssellingconventionalrattraps.
BetweenMarchandMay2009,200facetoface
interviewswereconductedbytrainedcommunityfield-
workersinPhilippi(n=100)andKhayelitsha(n=100).
Thesamefieldworkersfromthebaselinesurveywere

Figure1
Exampleofcommonlyfoundrattraps(top)andrat
trapsdistributedtorespondents(bottom).

Roomaney
etal.EnvironmentalHealth
2012,
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employedsixmonthslater(November2009)toadminister
thefollow-upacceptabilitysurvey.Thefieldworkerswere
givenaddressestolocatetheselectedhouses.Fromthese
houses,itwaspossibletolocate175ofthehouseholdsthat
hadtakenpartinthebaselinestudy.Thelosstofollow-up
wasduetoonequestionnairebeingmisplacedandsome
familieshavingmovedelsewhere.Itwasnotrequiredthat
thesamerespondentbefollowedup,onlythattheywere
fromthesamefamilythatwasgiventherattrap.
Analysis
Reportedintentiontouserattrapsinthefuturewasana-
lysedasthemaindependentvariableandwasusedasanin-
dicatorofacceptabilityoftherattraps.Reportedintention
tousepesticidesinfuturewasconsideredasthealternate
outcomeofinterest.Thefactorsrelatedtothereported
intendedtrapuseconsideredwere:1)demographicdata
(ageandsex),2)whethertherespondentsreportedusing
thetraps,3)theexperiencedeffectivenessofthetraps
(whetherthetrapscaughtrodentsandwhetherrespondents
reportedanyproblemsusingthetraps),4)reportedpast
andpresentpesticideuse,5)reportedperceptionsofthe
priceofrattraps(ifrespondentsbelievedrattrapstobe
moreexpensivethanpesticidesandwhethertheywerewill-
ingtobuyth