Publications

There had been several reports on the high prevalence of salmonella infection among poultryfarmers in Nigeria. This study is aimed at investigating the prevalence of salmonella infectionamong poultry farmers in Owerri, Imo State. A total of ninety poultry farmers were recruitedfor the study. The subjects consisted of forty-five males and forty-five female poultryfarmers. Stool sample was collected in a plain sterile container. The presence of salmonellainfection was detected using standard microbiological procedures. Data generated wasexpressed in percentage and presented in tables. A total of forty-three (43) poultry farmerswere recruited for the study of which a total of 25(58.14%) poultry farmers has salmonellainfection. There was a significant difference between the numbers of poultry farmers thatshowed the presence of salmonella infection when compared to the number of poultry farmerwithout salmonella infection. On the assessment of the safety practice method adopted bypoultry farmers, 69.77% reported that they do not wear gloves when handling chickens,72.09% reported that they do not wear face masks and apron, 97.64% reported that they donot wear hair restraint while 27.91% reported that they do not cut their finger nails. Theprevalence of salmonella infection among poultry farmers in Owerri, Imo State is high whencompared with reports from other studies. The age group >43 years has the highestprevalence of salmonella infection, while the prevalence of salmonella infection is highamong females, married and poultry farmers with poor education. This study confirms thatpoultry farmers in Owerri have poor knowledge and practice but moderate attitude onsalmonella infection prevention