Among 11,406 people in rural southern Tanzania, poultry keeping near households was consistently associated with higher odds of malaria rapid-test positivity across several models. The finding supports testing animal-housing interventions alongside vector control, but it does not prove that poultry keeping directly causes infection.
Key findings
- Adjusted poultry-exposure models produced odds ratios of roughly 1.409-1.596, while dose models gave per-unit odds ratios around 1.014-1.018. Most confidence intervals excluded one, although the per-animal effect is small and depends on the precise exposure unit.
Why this matters globally
The study matters where malaria, livestock and homes coexist closely: human-only vector control may miss animal-related changes in mosquito ecology. It supports coordinated public-health, veterinary, environmental and community intervention design.
Thai researcher contribution
Coauthor Roger Frutos is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, within a seven-country One Health collaboration.
Limitations to consider
The 2019 cross-sectional design cannot establish temporal order and may retain confounding from wealth, housing, water, bed-net or insecticide factors. Rapid tests and self-reported animal practices have limitations, animal keeping may proxy other environments, and Tanzanian estimates should not be transferred directly to Thailand.