Risk perceptions and behaviors of actors in the wild animal value chain in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo

Abstract

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which contains the greatest area of the second largest rainforest on Earth, people have long been connected to the forest for subsistence and livelihood from wild animals and bushmeat. This qualitative study sought to characterize the bushmeat movement-from hunting wild animals to market sale-and the roles of participants in the animal value chain, as well as their beliefs surrounding zoonotic disease and occupational risk. Actors in in eight bushmeat markets and two ports in Kinshasa, DRC completed semi-structured interviews between 2016 and 2018 in which they expressed belief in transmission of illness from domestic animals to humans, but not from wild animals to humans. Wild animals were viewed as pure and natural, in contrast to domestic animals which were considered tainted by human interference. Participants reported cutting themselves during the process of butchering yet did not consider butchering bushmeat to be a risky activity. Instead, they adopted safety practices learned over time from butchering experts and taught themselves how to butcher in a fashion that reduced the frequency of cutting. In general, butcherers rejected the idea of personal protective equipment use. Port markets were identified as important access points for meat coming from the Congo river and plane transport was identified as important for fresh and live meat coming from Équateur province. Most participants reported having heard about Ebola, but their mistrust in government messaging privileged a word-of-mouth story of witchcraft to be propagated about Ebola's origins. It is critical to better understand how public health messaging about outbreaks can successfully reach high risk communities, and to develop creative risk mitigation strategies for populations in regular contact with animal blood and body fluids. In this paper, we offer suggestions for formal and informal trusted channels through which health messages surrounding zoonotic risk could be conveyed to high-risk populations in Kinshasa.

Fig 1. Map of Kinshasa study sites.

Included are bushmeat markets where sampling occurred, main road arteries, location of the International airport, the Congo river and border designation between Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo. Base map and data from OpenStreetMap and OpenStreetMap Foundation, which is made available under the Open Database License.

Fig 2. Regional map of the three main provinces for export of bushmeat to Kinshasa markets.

Illustration showing participant-indicated provinces where bushmeat is sourced for hunting, transport and sale in Kinshasa bushmeat markets. Kinshasa is both a province and a city, with the former indicated by the white and black square and the latter in orange. Capital cities of each province are indicated by white and black circles and province names are italicized. Former province borders (the six largest were split in 2015) are indicated with a white dashed line.