1. Introduction

 Ethiopia is rich in livestock and is believed to have the largest livestock population in Africa. The central statistical agency report indicated there are about 60.39 million cattle, 31.30 million sheep, 32.74 million goats, 56.06 million poultry, 2.01 million horses, 8.85 million donkeys, 0.46 million mules, and 1.42 million camels in the sedentary areas of the country (CSA, 2018). However, despite the presence of this huge livestock population, Ethiopia is not exploiting its livestock resources as expected due to a number of factors such as animal diseases, recurrent droughts, infrastructure problems, rampant animal diseases, poor nutrition, poor husbandry practices, a shortage of trained manpower, and a lack of government policies for disease prevention and control (ILRI, 2009). The widely prevalent livestock diseases are major constraints to Ethiopian livestock development (Shitaye et al., 2007); as a result, our veterinary clinicians use antimicrobials and antibiotics for the treatment of these diseases. Veterinary antimicrobial drugs are used in the livestock sector either rationally or irrationally. Rational use of veterinary antimicrobial drugs is based on effective administration of antimicrobials: only use antimicrobials when necessary, use the most appropriate antimicrobial, and use the correct dose (Ali,2019).whereas irrational use of drugs occurs when "too many medicines are prescribed per patient, injections are used where oral formulations would be more appropriate, antimicrobials are administered in inadequate doses or duration, prescriptions do not follow clinical guidelines, and patients self-medicate inappropriately or do not adhere to prescribed treatment" (Dar Odeh et al., 2010). The misuse and overuse of various antimicrobial agents in the health care setting and the agricultural industry are regarded as major contributors to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (Dadgostar, 2019).

Farmers, in particular those who raise livestock, give their animals a variety of antimicrobial by mixing them with their feed or water. So, compared to non-food animals, the frequency of AMR in canine, equine, and feline species is lower (Farber et al., 2010). The development of AMR and drug residue in foods of animal origin is all consequences of using antimicrobials in animal production (Hosain et al., 2021). AMU in animal production for growth promotion, prophylaxis, and metaphylaxis; but AMU without professional monitoring; and/or AMU following inferior diagnostic techniques are specific, preventable practices that are acknowledged as major causes of AMR (Fatoumata, 2008). Antimicrobial-resistant bacteria can spread to human and animal populations through food, water, and the environment (Ogbonne et al., 2021).

The American Veterinary Medical Association has advised that "judicious use of antimicrobial in food-producing animals" should concentrate on the use of antimicrobial when they are essential for the treatment, prevention, and management of infections with a verified diagnosis (Barber et al., 2002). Contrary to this advice, antimicrobials are recklessly employed across the animal food chain in various parts of the world. Multi-sectoral and integrated awareness creation for animal producers is required, and it should be implemented across a variety of countries, showing a diversity of status in the economic development of their livestock sectors (Watson et al., 2019). This will help limit the contribution of animal production to the global health threat of AMR by educating animal farmers and drafting suitable regulations regarding the use of AMU and AMR (Nakagawa et al., 2015). Even though various studies have been conducted on antimicrobial use and AMR in different parts of Ethiopia, no previous work has been done on assessing the knowledge, attitude, and practice of animal owners regarding antimicrobial use and antimicrobial resistance in and around Dessie. Therefore, the objectives of this study were:

• To assess the status of farmers' knowledge, attitude, and practice on veterinary antimicrobial drug use and resistance.
• To identify factors associated with farmers' KAP on antimicrobial drug resistance.

2. Materials And Methods

2.1 Study Area and Study Population

The study was conducted from May 2022 to January 2023 in and around Dessie town. Primary data was collected from five districts, namely Gerado, Boru, Kutaber, Hayq, and Dessie. Dessie is located approximately 401 kilometers north-east of Addis Ababa, at a latitude of 11° 07' 59.81 N and a longitude of 39° 37' 59.83 E. It is the capital city of the South Wollo Zone. It has an elevation ranging from 2400–2550 m above sea level. The mean annual minimum and maximum temperatures are 11.7°C and 24°C, respectively. The mean annual relative humidity is about 60%. The annual rainfall ranges from 1090 to 1200 mm, and the area experiences bi-modal rainfall patterns with a short rainy season that occurs from February to March and a long rainy season that starts at the end of June and lasts until February. There are 19, 52374 cattle, 1538406 sheep, 1390763 goats, 40250 horses, 30134 mules, 664223 donkeys, and 65306 chickens in the area (DFEDB, 2015).

Kutaber is found in the South Wollo Zone, Amhara Region. It is located at 11012' 36"—11018' 36" N latitude and 390' 31’ 12"—390' 34’ 12" E longitude. The Kutaber region contains both highland and lowland areas. The average minimum and maximum rainfall range between 500 and 955 ml in the short and long rainy seasons. The average annual temperature is 22 °C, and mixed agriculture is the main occupation of the population of the area. The major livestock reared in the area are sheep, goats, cattle, poultry, and equines. According to statistical data, Kutaber Woreda has a livestock population of 69, 720 cattle, 65, 727 sheep, 53, 304 goats, 18, 005 horses, and 104, 737 chickens (Wondmnew et al., 2019).

Anorthern Ethiopian town named Hayq. It is named after Lake Hayq, which is two kilometers to the east of the city and the location of the Istifanos Monastery, a significant structure in the history of the Ethiopian Church. The Tehuledere woreda, in the south wollo Zone of the Amhara Region, is 28 kilometers north of Dessie. The town is located there. Its latitude and longitude are 11° 18′ N and 39° 41′ E, and its elevation is 2,030 meters (6,660 feet) above sea level. For the questioner survey, the study population was all animal owners who were > 18 years old, present in the livestock market at the time of the study, and all household animals (bovine, ovine, poultry, and equine).

2.2 Sample Size Determination

The sample size for assessing animal owners’ KAP towards AMU and AMR was calculated based on the suggestions of Bartlett et al. (Bartlett et al., 2021). Bartlett and his research team suggested that for every type of cross-sectional survey, the following formula is more appropriate than others:

n = z 2 * p * (1 - p) / e 2

Where

 n = is the required sample size.

 p = is the percentage occurrence of a state or condition.

 z = is the value corresponding to the level of confidence required.

e=the maximum percentage error allowed is denoted by

Since there was no study done about the KAP of animal producers towards AMR and AMU in the study area, 50% for the p-value, 95% (1.96) for the z-value, and 5% for the e-value were taken.

The total sample sizes from Dessie Town, Boru, Hayq, Kutaber, and Gerado were 72, 67, 82, 112, and 89, respectively. As a result, the total sample size for this study was 422.

2.3 Study Design

A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 2022 to February 2023 to evaluate the awareness, attitude, and practices of the household head attendants towards antimicrobial drug resistance and antimicrobial drug use.

2.4 Data Collection

A well-structured questionnaire and interview were administered to 422 animal owners. The questionnaire was designed to assess the practices, attitudes, and knowledge (KAP) of animal owners towards AMU and AMR in and around Dessie. In each study area, the largest open livestock market was chosen, and the animal owners in these markets were interviewed. All animal owners, regardless of educational background, were participating in the survey as a source of information. The questionnaire had four sections and contained close-ended questions such as those about respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge of animal owners towards AMU and AMR, the respondent’s attitude about AMU and AMR, and the practice of antimicrobial drugs and its contribution to AMR. The survey questioners were first created in English and translated into the local language (Amharic) at the time of the survey.

2.5 Data Analysis

All responses were exported to Microsoft Excel (Microsoft Excel, Windows version 2010). Then the recorded questionnaires were analyzed using STATA software version 14 and evaluated descriptively. The knowledge score of the respondent towards antimicrobial use, antimicrobial resistance, and residue was dichotomized based on a modification of Bloom’s cutoff point for knowledge, attitude, and practice studies. The knowledge scores above 80% were categorized as having good knowledge, while those who scored below 80% were considered to have poor knowledge (Gebretsadik et al., 2021).

3. Results

3.1 Demographic Characteristics of the Animal Owner’s

A total of 422 respondents were included in this survey study. Most of the respondents in the current study were rural residents (68.2%), and most of the participants were rural residents (61.1%). Group of 31–50 years in the study area, the majority (35.7%) of animal owners had raised two species. The majority of participants (45.7%) were uneducated (farmers), while others had primary, secondary, tertiary, and secondary diplomas and degrees (Table 1).

Out of the total number of respondents, the majority (72.3% and 73.2%) of animal owners were not aware that improper use of antimicrobials in animals can cause AMR and didn’t know about the side effects of antimicrobial drugs respectively. 47.2 % of animal owners didn’t have knowledge about rational AMU and the development of AMR. 55% of the animal owners were not aware that the administration of a proper dose of a drug can prevent the development of AMR (table 2).

The modality scale was used to test the attitude of the respondent about AMU and AMR with five modalities (strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and I don’t know). As it is indicated in Table 3, the majority of the respondents (41%) agreed on the necessity of professional advice before using antimicrobials. From the total sample size, 30.8% and 38.2% of the respondents did not think improper use of antimicrobials leads to treatment failure, and they did not think use of non-drug disease prevention measures can impede AMR, respectively.

Table 3: The attitude of animal owner towards AMU and AMR

3.4 The practice of animal producers towards AMU and AMR

The animal producers’ AMU and AMR practices were tested using five practice-related questions (Table 4). The majority of the respondents from the total sample size (58.3%) were animal owners who increase the dose and frequency of drug administration when their animals are not recovered. The percentage of animal owners who obtained the drug from a local dispenser was 18.2%, and the majority (42.7%) of respondents took their animals to the clinic for treatment. (23%) of the participants gave drugs to their animals on their own. The majority (50%) of the participants were administered drugs by taking them into a veterinary clinic. A minimum of 27.5 percent of all participants use drugs for disease prevention.

Table 4: The practice of animal owners towards AMR and AMU