KNOWLEDGE OF HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF BRUCELLOSIS AMONG ABATTOIR WORKERS IN BAUCHI STATE, NIGERIA

Brucellosis is a significant zoonotic disease affecting both livestock productivity and public health. The disease is caused by bacteria of the genus Brucella, which are non-motile, gram-negative, facultative intracellular coccobacilli. The disease affects a wide range of domestic and wild animals, and humans. Despite high risk, awareness of the health consequences of brucellosis remains low among many workers in the meat processing chain. This study investigates the knowledge of brucellosis among abattoir workers Bauchi state, Nigeria. An Ex post factor research design was used and a researcher-developed questionnaire was administered to 224 abattoir workers selected using multi-stage sampling procedure. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS Version 27. The results were presented in frequencies count, percentage, mean, standard deviation and one-sample t-test was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. The finding revealed that the observed t-value of (19.27) is greater than the t-critical value of (1.96) at 0.05 level of significance. This shows that the knowledge of brucellosis and awareness of its health consequences among abattoir workers in Bauchi state is not significant. The study concludes that knowledge of brucellosis and its health consequences among abattoir workers in Bauchi State is low and poses substantial risks to abattoir workers and the general public. In view of this, the study recommends continuous professional health education and sensitization interventions be institutionalized to reinforce knowledge, improve risk perception, and promote consistent adherence to safe handling of meat and meat product of among abattoir workers in Bauchi state