Conference Abstract | Volume 8, Abstract ELIC2025273 (Poster 147) | Published: 11 Aug 2025
Nathanael Bamigboye Afolabi1,&, Olayinka Airat Badmus2, Omolara Arike Oyinlola3, Ramatu Ada Ochekliye4
1Development Information and Health Research Associates (DiHRA), Abuja, Nigeria, 2Afrihealth for Social Development and Impact (ASDI), Abuja, Nigeria, 3Independent Researcher, Abuja, Nigeria, 4Shades of Us, Abuja, Nigeria
&Corresponding author: Nathanael Afolabi, Development Information and Health Research Associates (DiHRA), Abuja, Nigeria, Email: nathfolabi@gmail.com
Received: 24 Mar 2025, Accepted: 09 Jul 2025, Published: 11 Aug 2025
Domain: Infectious Disease Epidemiology
Keywords: Lassa Fever, Community Perceptions, Misinformation
©Nathanael Bamigboye Afolabi et al. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health (ISSN: 2664-2824). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Nathanael Bamigboye Afolabi et al., Understanding community beliefs, misinformation, and behaviour: A social and behavioural science lens on Lassa fever prevention in Nigeria. Journal of Interventional Epidemiology and Public Health. 2025;8(Conf Proc 5):00291. https://doi.org/10.37432/JIEPH-CONFPRO5-00291
The incidence of Lassa fever (LF) in the last decade in West African countries have been on the increase. In Nigeria, LF have become endemic leading to increased fatalities among health care providers. Bauchi state, Nigeria have witnessed more frequent outbreaks, becoming one of the high-risk states. Despite LF’s endemic nature, many communities remain reactive rather than proactive in their approach to LF outbreaks. Addressing this challenge requires a comprehensive understanding of community perceptions and misinformation needed for designing effective and context specific disease prevention strategies.
The study sites comprise of selected communities where intervention was implemented in two (Bauchi and Toro) local government areas (LGAs) and one control LGA (Dambam) using a quasi-experimental study design. The Socio Ecological Model based on behavioral method was applied to assess the impact of risk communication and community engagement interventions on knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to LF in Bauchi State, Nigeria. Data was collected using structured interviews with 1,544 adult community members and analyzed using Stata, version 17.
Findings revealed that LF knowledge among community members varies, with higher awareness in Bauchi and Toro compared to Dambam LGA. Despite this, a significant proportion of respondents are still engaged in high-risk practices like open-air drying. Positive attitudes towards LF elimination were noted in intervention LGAs, emphasizing community support and reporting suspected cases to authorities. Nonetheless, socioeconomic obstacles and ongoing misinformation, including the notions that LF is a result of witchcraft or a government conspiracy, persist in obstructing complete community adherence. Communication channels for LF information included radio, healthcare workers, and friends/family members, with radio and friends/family members being the preferred channels.
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