Percepção e conscientização de tutores de cães quanto à importância da vacinação contra doenças virais

Abstract

Brazil has the second largest population of dogs in the world, thus making it necessary to provide dog owners with reliable information to offer better animal health care. Among several topics that could be addressed, the most basic and important one is vaccination. The dissemination of knowledge about vaccination against viral diseases will bring great benefit to the community, directly impacting animal health through the drastic reduction of these diseases prevented by vaccination. In addition, human health will also improve because rabies, a fatal zoonotic viral disease, is preventable by vaccines. A total of 204 dog breeders who frequented the Federal University of Uberlândia School of Veterinary Medicine’s Veterinary Hospital was selected. First, information about the owners and their animals was obtained through a questionnaire that addressed socio-epidemiological aspects and how the dogs were bred. Then, owners received information about the importance of vaccination and, consequently, the prevention of viral diseases through the use of vaccines. It was observed that 43.62% (n=89/204) of the owners had higher education degrees and only 5.88% (n=12/204) did not have access to the Internet. 66.17% (n=135/204) of the owners allowed their animals to access the street and only 30.88% (n=63/204) neutered all their dogs. Most owners (74.50%; n=152/174) declared that their animals were vaccinated with rabies vaccine and, possibly, the rabies campaign had an important role in this result, since 53.44% (n=93/174) of the owners reported taking their animals to be vaccinated in the campaign. Regarding multiantigen vaccination, it was observed that the canine population of Uberlândia does not have minimum vaccination coverage against canine distemper and canine parvovirus, despite the majority (75.98%; n=155/204) of the owners being aware of the existence of the multiantigen vaccine. In addition, 28.16% (n=49/174) of the owners declared to take their animals to be vaccinated in agricultural supply stores. The veterinarian (54.90%; n=112/204) and the Internet (45.09%; n=92/204) were the main sources of information on dog care that the owners claimed to use. The present study directly reached 204 dog breeders with educational actions focused on the prevention of viral diseases through vaccination. In conclusion, the socio- epidemiological profile of the interviewed dog owners favors a breeding practice in

terms of adequate sanitary management. However, it became evident that these dogs were raised in a way that put them at risk of acquiring infectious diseases, because these dogs had access to the street, many were not neutered and vaccination coverage was inadequate. Additionally, owners are complacent when health education is carried out correctly.