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Perceived Risk of Avian Influenza and Urbanization in Northern Vietnam

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Abstract

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) is an important public health concern because of potential for widespread morbidity and mortality in humans and poultry and associated devastating economic losses. We examined how perceptions of the risk of HPAI in poultry vary across communes/wards in the north of Vietnam at different levels of urbanization (rural, peri-urban, urban). Analyses of questionnaire responses from 1081 poultry raisers suggested that the perceived risk of HPAI in poultry was highest in peri-urban and rural settings. We also found that perceived risk was higher when respondents rated settings in which they did not live and that the process of change is related to perceived risk. Compared with others, respondents in peri-urban areas reported less disease management planning; respondents in rural areas reported less ability to separate infected poultry. These findings are consistent with, and add to, the limited previous research on the perceived risk of HPAI in poultry in developing countries. What is new in the present findings is that we describe how urbanization is related to people’s perceptions of and ability to respond appropriately to variations in their environment. In particular, the inability to respond is not necessarily because of an inability to perceive change. Rather, rapid and extensive change poses different challenges for poultry management as communes move from rural to peri-urban to urban settings. Our results suggest that health promotion campaigns should address the perceptions and needs of poultry raisers in different settings.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to colleagues at the Hanoi University of Agriculture for assistance pilot testing the survey instrument, recruiting respondents, and collecting data. Thanks also to Charles Nguyen, Nong Huu Duong, and Tran Chinh Cong, Ian Pagano, Michael DiGregorio, Nancy Lewis, and Bruce Wilcox for assistance developing the survey and data entry and analysis. This work was funded by the National Science Foundation Grant # DEB-0909410.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. East-West Center, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Melissa L. Finucane, Sumeet Saksena, Jefferson M. Fox & Nancy Davis Lewis

  2. RAND Corporation, 4570 Fifth Ave, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213-2665, USA

    Melissa L. Finucane

  3. Vietnam National University, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Nghiem Tuyen

  4. Clemson University, Clemson, SC, USA

    James H. Spencer

  5. Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Hanoi, Vietnam

    Nguyen Lam, Trinh Dinh Thau & Tran Duc Vien

Authors
  1. Melissa L. Finucane
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  2. Nghiem Tuyen
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  3. Sumeet Saksena
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  4. James H. Spencer
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  5. Jefferson M. Fox
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  6. Nguyen Lam
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  7. Trinh Dinh Thau
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  8. Tran Duc Vien
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  9. Nancy Davis Lewis
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Correspondence to Melissa L. Finucane.

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Finucane, M.L., Tuyen, N., Saksena, S. et al. Perceived Risk of Avian Influenza and Urbanization in Northern Vietnam. EcoHealth 14, 144–154 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-017-1213-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-017-1213-5

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