Table 3.

Quotes of participants on practices associated with anthrax outbreak.

Theme	Quote
Occupational risks	“Since this condition seems to come from animals, herdsmen and people who slaughter livestock are in danger of getting the disease,” male FGD, Ndara. “I should have acquired the disease when I participated in dressing a dead cow, probably through bruises. I had ignored the swelling on my hand but realized it had persisted and become wider. I think this meat was safe to eat since my family members whom I shared the meat with did not fall sick,” male case, Pulwal.
Proximity to wildlife reserve	“Many of us in the community enter Ajai game reserve to graze livestock, harvest firewood, and hunt game meat, but nobody has fallen sick or died because of that,” male FGD, Parabok.
Cultural practices, norms, and beliefs	“To minimise costs and theft, the livestock in our communities are kept, grazed, and watered communally,” male FGD, Rhino Camp. “It is possibly true that we could have stopped anthrax from spreading by burying the dead cow. However, in our culture, it is a very big taboo to bury dead livestock because you will have buried wealth and your herd can never multiply,” male FGD, Pulwal. “It is usually difficult to rule out malicious tendencies due to witch craft when a person loses many livestock within a short period,” female FGD, Ocea.