Dhakal A, Khanal S, Pandey M. 2021. Ethnoveterinary practice of medicinal plants in Chhatradev Rural Municipality, Arghakhanchi District of Western Nepal. Nusantara Bioscience 13: 29-40. The use of medicinal plants is a traditional system in treating domestic animals in Nepal. This study was done to investigate and document knowledge about using different plants with medicinal value to cure different animal ailments in Chhatradev Rural Municipality, Arghakhanchi district of western Nepal. A total of 100 elderly people rearing domestic animals and having traditional knowledge of ethnoveterinary plants were selected for interview. A semi-structured questionnaire was employed, and interviews were conducted for addressing detailed ethnoveterinary information. The uses of 103 plant species belonging to 56 families were documented for the treatment of 21 animal ailments. Fabaceae was found to be a dominant family with 10 plant species followed by Poaceae (8 species). The most commonly used plant parts were leaf, seed, and fruit. Herbs were dominant with 44 plant species followed by trees (32 species), shrubs (14 species), and climbers (13 species). The wide application of the medicinal plants as the form of paste formulation was observed for 41 plant species, while 25 plant species were used as powder formulation followed by Juice (21 species), raw (20 species), decoction (19 species), infusion (5 species), and roasted formulation (3 species). Oral route was the most common route followed by dermal and ocular. It was found that the informant consensus factor (ICF) values varied from 0.858 to 0.96. A high informant consensus factor was found for ailment of reproductive category (0.96) followed by respiratory (0.957), gastrointestinal (0.949) while the least was in urinary problem category (0.858). The highest citation frequency was found for Trachyspermum ammi (L.) Sprague (247) followed by Myristica fragrans Houtt. (111), Sesamum indicum L. (109), Saccharum officinarum L. (107) and Zea mays L. (97). The wide use and rich knowledge of ethnoveterinary practice were found in the study area. This study might be handy to discover useful ethnopharmaceutical agents applicable in the livestock industry. Conservation programs should be done from the government level and study on the use of medicinal plants for treating animal diseases is recommended.

The occurrence of poultry disease is one of the major problems for poultry farmers. Proper implementation of biosecurity practices leads to a reduction in entry, occurrence and spread of pathogens on farms, that have negative consequences for animal health, human health and economy. The goal of the study was to assess biosecurity measures implemented by broiler and layer farmers in Chitwan, Nepal. A total of 400 poultry farmers were surveyed using a structured questionnaire. The mean conceptual, structural and operational biosecurity scores obtained by the farms were 4.7 ± 1.2, 11.6 ± 2.7 and 17.1 ± 4.1, respectively. The average biosecurity score recorded was 33.4 ± 6.7. The lowest score obtained by a farm was 7, whereas the highest score obtained was 47. It was found that out of 400 farms, 44.2% (177/400) maintained a satisfactory level of biosecurity, while the remaining 223 (55.8%) exhibited an unsatisfactory level. The chi‐square test revealed that the main occupation (χ² = 31.832, p < 0.001), experience in poultry farming (χ² = 13.618, p < 0.001), attending poultry farming training (χ² = 23.107, p < 0.001), biosecurity training (χ² = 15.331, p = 0.002), farm capacity (χ² = 41.794, p < 0.001), farm type (χ² = 25.002, p < 0.001), flooring system (χ² = 35.906, p < 0.001) and presence of workers in the farm (χ² = 44.024, p < 0.001) were significantly associated with the biosecurity level in poultry farms. This study reveals that there is much space for improvement in the adoption of biosecurity measures by poultry farms. Future training programs for poultry farmers should focus on providing knowledge on the proper implementation of biosecurity measures as a strategy for disease prevention and control.

Rabies is a vaccine-preventable, zoonotic, viral disease and a major public health concern for developing countries such as Nepal. A study was conducted from October–December 2021 among 308 household heads from three districts in Nepal (Siraha, Parsa, and Nawalparasi West) through an in-person interview to examine the rural people’s practices towards rabies. Of 70 respondents owning pet animals, 82.9% vaccinated them against rabies but 87.9% (51/58) of them kept a vaccination record. Nearly all respondents (99.7%, 307/308) said they would visit hospitals after being bitten by rabid or rabies suspected animals, and 18.2% (56/308) of them said they would also opt to visit traditional healers seeking treatment against rabies. Seven in ten respondents knew that they should wash bitten body area with soap and water. Around 60% (184/308) of respondents said they would not bother to notify or report to the local authorities if they saw someone bitten by a presumed rabid dog or observed animal behavior suggestive of rabies. The Chi-square test showed a significant association between the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents with practices (good practice and poor practice) towards rabies. The study findings suggest that rural people in Nepal need to be educated with applied rabies control and prevention practices and made aware of health seeking behavior and the role that a community members have to play to control, prevent, and eradicate rabies.

Although Nepal is a landlocked country, it has abundant water resources that enhance its potential for fisheries and aquaculture activities. But, only a few percentages of the total water resources have been utilized properly. Despite a satisfactory growth in pond fish production over the last 15 years with 73,693 Mt. of fish produced in the fiscal year 2020/21, there has not been much significant advancement in the fisheries sector as expected. Some of the major challenges encountered by farmers are lack of technical knowledge, lack of capital, scarcity of good quality fingerlings, quality feed, diseases, and lack of good market infrastructure. We recommend government authorities to address the problems as aquaculture and fisheries are important sectors that contribute to nutrition for rural people and employment opportunities for many individuals.

Eliminating dog-mediated human rabies cases by 2030 is a collective global pledge. Rabies is a vaccine-preventable, zoonotic, and fatal viral disease tormenting human beings and animals for at least four thousand years. An average annual fatality of 59,000 people has been reported from rabies in more than 150 countries, including Nepal. Understanding people's knowledge towards rabies is paramount to preventing this disease. A cross-sectional study was conducted in three districts, namely, Siraha, Parsa, and Parasi in Nepal, from October to December 2021 to assess the level of public awareness of rabies. Information was obtained using a structured questionnaire among 308 household heads. Study findings show that some of the respondents were unfamiliar with the term ‘rabies’. They knew major carriers or sources of rabies, but the majority of them (87.3%) did not know its causative agent. They had some idea of how rabies is transmitted from animals to humans, but they lacked a clear understanding of the fate of the animals and humans once affected cases are symptomatic. Only 35.1% of respondents knew that rabies pathogens attack and multiply in the brain tissues. Rabies vaccination in pets is critical for rabies eradication, yet only 26.3% of respondents were aware of the vaccination schedule. Nearly 90% of respondents thought post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) to be effective immediately after a suspected animal bite. The findings show that there was a significant relationship between independent variables viz. pet ownership (X² = 20.273, p < 0.001), level of education (X² = 39.215, p < 0.001), household income (X² = 13.574, p < 0.001), family size (X² = 15.053, p < 0.001), main occupation (X² = 11.618, p = 0.020), age (X² = 6.982, p = 0.008) with dependent variable i. e., knowledge category (good and poor knowledge). Education to invoke awareness among rural people about rabies, its transmission and prevention, including making anti-rabies vaccines freely available, should be the priority for municipalities, public health and veterinary health authorities in the study districts and throughout the country.

The 2022 Monkeypox Disease (MPOX) outbreak was declared a pandemic after detecting multiple human-to-human monkeypox cases in ‘non-endemic’ nations. The index case of MPOX has been reported in Nepal. Also, the disease burden in neighboring countries and international travel and tourism could increase the MPOX burden in Nepal. This study recruited 443 study participants between August 25 and September 10, 2022, using the snowball technique and using descriptive statistics to assess the awareness and knowledge of MPOX. Approximately 82% (n=361) of the study participants were young adults aged between 18-29 years and were undergoing or holders of tertiary education degrees (72.2%, n=320). Our findings showed that 76.5% (n=339/443) of the respondents were aware of the 2022 MPOX outbreak and obtained information about the disease from their local radio and television stations (20.6%, n = 70), as well as from other sources such as social media platforms (70.5%, n=239), and other internet sources (61.6%, n=209). The mean knowledge score of the respondents was 3.95±1.26, with a range of 0.5 to 7. Approximately three-quarters (72.3%, n=245) of the study participants were graded to have a good knowledge of the MPOX. Of the listed symptoms, study participants correctly identified high fever (62.2%, n=339), rashes (51.0%, n=173), swollen lymph nodes (34.5%, n=117), and sores around the mouth, vagina, and anus (26.8%, n=91). A higher number of participants were aware that vaccination could confer protection against the disease (70.8%, n=240). However, less than one third of the participants (30%, n=102) were aware that safe sex practices can be a preventive strategy against the disease. Finally, none of the sociodemographic variables were associated with increased knowledge of MPOX among the study participants. The knowledge of MPOX among the study population was above average. We advocate that public enlightenment campaigns in Nepal should address wrong perceptions of MPOX.