Regional dynamics of zoonotic risk perception and wildlife use in Ghana
Bibliographic record
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic and other recent zoonotic outbreaks have renewed global scrutiny of the bushmeat trade, particularly in West Africa. This study examines regional differences in bushmeat consumption, hunting practices, and perceptions of zoonotic disease risk in Ghana, using a mixed-methods approach combining a household survey (n = 335) and key informant interviews with hunters (n = 53). METHODS: Respondents were drawn from northern and southern Ghana to reflect ecological and cultural diversity. Socio-demographic characteristics, bushmeat consumption patterns, and knowledge of zoonotic diseases were analyzed. Hunters were interviewed to explore occupational activities and risk mitigation behaviors. RESULTS: Bushmeat consumption declined after the COVID-19 outbreak, more so in southern Ghana (from 62% to 33%) than in the north (from 81% to 61%). Awareness of zoonotic disease transmission was high (~ 70%) and primarily acquired through mass media, yet this had limited impact on behavior. Hunting activity declined during the pandemic, but hunters attributed this not to health concerns, but to wildlife scarcity and reduced commercial demand. Use of personal protective equipment was absent, with hunters citing discomfort, cultural beliefs, and spiritual protection as justifications. Risk perceptions varied regionally: northern respondents emphasized improper cooking as the main transmission pathway, while southerners pointed to handling of live animals. Religious beliefs significantly shaped attitudes toward disease vulnerability, with 80% of southern respondents and 58% in the north attributing protection from disease to divine intervention. CONCLUSION: Bushmeat-related behaviors in Ghana are influenced more by cultural norms, economic necessity, and ecological conditions than by knowledge of zoonotic disease risks. Public health messaging alone is insufficient. Effective interventions must be culturally responsive, integrate conservation with health surveillance, and align with local worldviews. A multidimensional "One Health" approach is essential for sustainable behavior change and zoonotic disease prevention.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.001 | 0.002 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.001 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.002 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".