Awareness, risk perception, and preparedness for mpox outbreak among health workers in Abakaliki, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

Background Mpox remains an emerging public health threat, particularly in endemic regions like Nigeria. Health workers play a critical role in outbreak detection and response. This study assessed awareness, risk perception, and preparedness for mpox outbreaks among health workers in Abakaliki, Nigeria. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 258 health workers at Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital and the National Obstetric Fistula Centre, Abakaliki. Data were collected using a structured self-administered questionnaire and analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics v20. Descriptive statistics summarized key variables, while chi-square tests and ordinal logistic regression identified predictors of preparedness at p<.05. Results Awareness of mpox was very high (98.1%), though only 20.5% of respondents reported being very familiar with its symptoms. Most participants perceived mpox as a significant public health threat (88.4%). However, preparedness level was very low as only 4.7% were highly prepared for an outbreak. Only 8.9% of respondents reported facility-provided training and 14.0% reported established protocols for mpox management. Years of experience and department of work were predictors of preparedness. Health workers with 11–15 years of experience were significantly more likely to report higher preparedness (AOR = 13.6, 95% CI: 1.42–129.3, p = 0.024). Conclusion Despite very high awareness and substantial concern about mpox among health workers, this awareness did not translate into adequate preparedness. Strengthening structured training programs, improving access to guidelines and resources, and establishing clear facility-level preparedness strategies are essential to enhance health workers’ readiness for future mpox outbreaks. Clinical trial number: not applicable