This study was conducted to know the knowledge level of rural and urban women towards major zoonoses. A survey of 300 randomly selected women from urban and rural areas was conducted through structured interview schedule. Occupation wise distribution of respondents was housewives (49.33%), farming operations (17.33%), service (27.67%), business (3.33%) and daily wage labour (2.33%). Level of education recorded was illiterate (1.675), primary schooling (2.53%), secondary and higher secondary schooling (29.33%), graduate and above (43.67%). Fairly good awareness about different modes of disease acquisition observed. Respondents were familiar with vector borne diseases viz. Dengue (98.67%), chikungunya (95.00%) and malaria (99.33%); however knowledge of Japanese encephalitis, Q fever, leishmaniasis and trypanosomiasis was almost nil. All the respondents were unaware about the fact that food borne zoonoses like brucellosis, listeriosis and campylobacteriosis causes abortion. Role of vectors in disease transmission viz. mosquitoes and flies was known, but information on role of ticks and flea was poor. Other than tuberculosis (95%), rabies (93.33%), bird flu (96.67%) and swine flu (98.67%), none of the respondents were familiar to brucellosis, hydatidosis, toxoplasmosis, taeniasis. All the respondents opined that there is need of awareness and training on zoonotic diseases to keep them sensible about such public health menace.

Keyword: Knowledge level; Zoonoses; Women;