Descriptive survey of personal hygiene and knowledge of exposure factors of zoonotic diseases among poultry workers in Ogun state, Nigeria

Abstract

A cross sectional survey was conducted using questionnaire as a tool from March to July, 2011 to determine the personal hygiene and safety status of some selected poultry workers in Ogun State, Nigeria. The questionnaire was also to determine the knowledge of poultry workers on various factors that can exposure them to zoonotic diseases. A total of 143 questionnaires were administered. Sizeable number of poultry workers (74.8%), were not provided with personal protective equipment (PPE) during work. Majority of the poultry workers have adequate personal hygiene while use of antiseptics as part of hand washing practices is relatively low. Forty-three percent of poultry workers have some knowledge of occupational exposure factors and 27.3% have some knowledge of non-occupational exposure factors to zoonotic diseases. It was concluded that, there is a need for provision of adequate personal protective equipment, adequate decontamination and hygienic facilities for poultry workers as well as awareness creation and education of poultry workers on various exposure factors of zoonotic diseases.

Keywords: Personal hygiene, Knowledge of risk factors, Poultry workers, Zoonotic diseases