The safety of food of animal origin is of concern in the developing countries. Some of the antimicrobial agents that are used for the treatment of animal diseases seem to occur in the animal products. The knowledge, attitude and practice in relation to oxytetracycline (OTC) residues in beef among residents in Dodoma Region, Tanzania were evaluated. A cross sectional study included interviewing 254 randomly chosen respondents was conducted. Fifty two percent of the respondents were not aware of drug residues, 57% never heard about drug residues in food of animal origin such as milk and meat, 35% know residues can be harmful to human and 61% did not know if animals are treated with antimicrobial drugs when they were sick. Only 27% of the respondents knew common antimicrobial agents that cause residues in animal meat and milk and were able to mention. Majority of respondents (74%) did not know any method for the prevention of antimicrobial residues. Fifty six percent of the age group of 20-35 years purchased meat from butcheries. Secondary school (68.4%) and College (52.9%) respondents purchased meat from butcheries compared to informal (23.8%) and primary (49.2%) respectively that purchased meat locally within the villages. Majority of informal (66.7%) and primary (47.6%) respondents purchased meat locally within the villages. The differences were strongly significant p< 0.0001. Women (57.1%) used one hour to prepare meat. Age group 20-35 years (88.1%) prepared meat by cooking. Age group of 36-45 years prepared meat for 1 hour and 2 hours. College respondents (68.8%) barbequing meat compared to smoking and freezing. The results in this study indicate that respondents had low knowledge and awareness on antimicrobial use and drug residues. This might be due to low level of education of respondents as majority of them had informal and primary education. Many of the drug respondents were not aware of the drug residues and did not know antibiotic residues can have effects in human health. Community based health education and promotion on antimicrobial use and preventing drug residues is highly recommended to this population.
Key words: knowledge, attitude, practice, residues in beef, residents, Dodoma Region, Tanzani
