STUDY ON KNOWLEDGE OF CONTROL AND PREVENTIVE MEASURE FOR CHOLERA OUTBREAK IN IMO STATE

Having a good knowledge of control and preventive measures against cholera outbreak is an important pathway towards preventing the outbreak of the disease. The aim of the study was to assess the knowledge of control and preventive measures of cholera outbreak in Imo state. The study was designed as a descriptive cross sectional study, and sampled the study participants within two clusters of urban and rural areas in Imo state. Therefore two communities were selected, one representing urban communities and the other rural communities. Data collection was performed in the selected communities using a semi structured validated questionnaire. The participants were visited in a community gathering center and were examined using the data research tool. Analysis of the data were performed in SPSS version27 using both descriptive method such as the use of frequency distribution tables and charts, and the inferential statistics method (chi- square test). The results of the data found high level of general knowledge of cholera (79.6%). Similarly, knowledge about cholera control and preventive measures were found to high (77.8%), the major sources of knowledge were relatives (46.2%) and social media (31.1%). Significant sociodemographic factors associating to knowledge of control and preventive measures include older age (p=0.000) and education (0.028). The study included that constant assessment of knowledge should be made necessary in order to prevent cholera outbreak in the study area.