Social and hygienic risk factors and public awareness in highly endemic regions: Echinococcosis assessment based on an online questionnaire

Abstract

Epidemiological metrics emphasize a persistently high incidence of cystic echinococcosis across Central Asian agricultural zones, demanding rigorous evaluations of primary prevention frameworks. The current investigation analyzes the multidimensional dynamics of socio-hygienic determinants and baseline public awareness regarding parasitic transmission utilizing a cross-sectional digital methodology. The study population comprised 845 adult residents of highly endemic regions, systematically evaluated via a structured, multi-variable online questionnaire deployed over a 12-month period. Empirical sociological data demonstrate a profound and systemic deficit in public health literacy; only 28.4 percent of respondents accurately identified the definitive host and the fecal-oral transmission cycle. Analytical outputs confirm that agricultural occupation and rural residency inversely correlate with adequate preventive behaviors, where 62.1 percent of dog owners admitted to completely neglecting routine veterinary deworming protocols. Logistic regression modeling identifies the practice of feeding raw visceral offal to domestic canines as the most critical independent risk factor, amplifying the transmission probability by an odds ratio of 4.3 (95 percent confidence interval: 3.1 to 5.8). The dynamics of the obtained results mandate an urgent paradigm shift from hospital-centric surgical management toward aggressive, community-level sanitary education. These findings fundamentally bridge persistent literature gaps by mapping the exact behavioral vectors of zoonotic spread, establishing a rigorous foundation for modernizing targeted digital health literacy campaigns and state-subsidized veterinary interventions.