Insect are present all over the world and spend their whole life cycle on the host. Pests are undesirable organisms, such as insects, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, weeds, viruses, or vertebrate animals that harm humans or human interests. They can damage, devalue, or destroy agricultural crops, food stores, lawns, gardens, human structures, clothing, and furniture, as well as negatively affect terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The study ascertains pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State, Nigeria. Four objectives, four research questions and four null hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. A cross-sectional descriptive research design was adopted.  The sample of the study consisted of A total of 400 (Four hundred) respondents. The instrument used for data collection was self-designed structured questionnaire on pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors. The questionnaire was validated by the judgments of three experts/lecturers from the Department of Public Health, faculty of Health Sciences, Open University Nigeria, Umuahia. A test re-test reliability technique was used to determine the reliability of the instruments which gave a positive co-efficient of 0.82.  The research questions were answered using frequencies and percentages, while the null hypotheses were tested using chi-square statistics at 0.05 level of significance.  The result reveal that slightly more than half (56.8 percent) of the respondents aged between 20 –39, 31.5 percent aged between 40 –59 while 9.7 percent aged between 60 years and above; 1.0 percent  had no formal education, 30.8 percent had primary education, 45.5 percent had secondary education while 22.7 percent had tertiary education. Only 52.6 percent of the respondent had positive attitude towards insect vector. Only 34.1 percent of the respondents generally practiced insect vectors control methods.  Only 56.2.percentage of respondents generally influenced insect vectors control, age was higher (71.4%) among 40 – 59 years while the lowest 33.2% was within the age range of 20 – 39. Practicing personal protective measures (Cal = 88.6; Tab =5.991; df =2 ;P- value = 0.05), practicing chemical and environmental control (Cal = 47.08; Tab =12.592; df =6 ;P- value = 0.05) and practicing biological control (Cal = 56.7; Tab =5.991; df =2 ;P- value = 0.05) were significant determinants of insect vectors control methods. Age (Cal = 52.6; Tab =5.991; df =2 ;P- value = 0.05), and level of education (Cal = 42.4; Tab =7.824; df = 3; P- value = 0.05) were significant determinants of insect vectors control methods. Cultural belief of mosquito is just a nuisance, its control is not so important (Cal = 54.5; Tab =3.841; df = 1; P- value = 0.05) and cultural value of mosquito control responsibilities (Cal = 53.55; Tab =5.991; df =2 ;P- value = 0.05) were significant determinants of insect vectors control methods. It is recommended that Due to the low practice of insect vectors control measures, the  management of the  College should formulate a policy  guiding insect vectors control measures so  increase the workers  efforts to develop desirable practices regarding insect  vectors control measures

Numerous diseases that are important to public health are spread by insects. Insect vectors are responsible for around 17% of all infectious disease cases worldwide, contributing to millions of fatalities each year from parasites, bacteria, or viruses [1]. Over 400,000 people die from the parasite malaria illness each year, which is thought to produce 219 million cases worldwide and is spread by anopheline mosquitoes [2]. With an estimated 96 million symptomatic cases and 40,000 projected deaths annually due to dengue viral infection spread by Aedes mosquitoes (insult), over 3.9 billion people in over 129 countries are at risk of developing dengue [3]. Dengue, a virus spread by Aedes mosquitoes, is currently posing a threat to half of the world's population [4]. 

Dengue only needs humans for transmission, which accounts for its quick spread in densely populated urban areas. This is in contrast to yellow fever, which is primarily conveyed by sylvatic (forest) mosquito species and non-human primate reservoirs [5]. The Americas have seen a sharp rise in dengue prevalence, and the recent arrival of Zika and chikungunya has caused major epidemics in these areas [6]. Numerous VBDs have impacted hundreds of millions of people worldwide, including filariasis, leishmaniasis, and American trypanosomiasis (also known as Chagas disease) [7]. 
Despite recent extensive control measures that have been successful in lowering transmission in many regions, insect vectors continue to impose a large cost of morbidity and mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, accounting for 228 million cases and 405,000 deaths in 2018. 

 [8]. Nevertheless, although their prevalence is less well known, a number of vector-borne illnesses, such as Rift Valley fever, dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, Zika, o'nyong'nyong, West Nile, leishmaniasis, river blindness, and African sleeping sickness, are frequently transmitted among people, animals, and wildlife in sub-Saharan Africa. Nonetheless, since 2007 more than 27,000 instances of arbovirus infections spread by Aedes vectors have been documented in West Africa [9]. An estimated 627,000 persons in sub-Saharan Africa lost their lives to malaria in 2020. The majority of these deaths were caused by parasite infections spread by insects. The WHO African Region is still responsible for an excessively large part of the world's malaria cases. Approximately 94% of all malaria cases and 95% of deaths in 2022 occurred in the Region.

Children under 5 years of age accounted for about 78% of all malaria deaths in the Region [10]. Four African countries accounted for just over half of all malaria deaths worldwide: Nigeria (26.8%), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (12.3%), Uganda (5.1%) and Mozambique (4.2%) [11].

In Nigeria, insect-borne diseases accounting for more than 15% of all infectious diseases among the insect borne diseases, majority of the morbidity and mortality are attributed to malaria transmitted by Anopheles gambiae sl mosquito, malaria is a major cause of fever in all age groups, contributing to significant infant mortality in Nigeria . In November, 2023, Dengue fever account for 71 suspected cases, 13 confirmed cases and zero deaths have been reported in the Sokoto state. Currently, the virus has been reported in three (3) local government areas (LGAs): Sokoto South (60 cases), Wamako (3 cases) and Dange Shuni (1 case). The majority of the suspected cases reported fall between the age range of 21-40 years .  It was  reported that since September 2017, yellow fever cases transmitted by Insect vectors have been reported across several states in Nigeria. From 1 January to 31 August 2021, a total of 1,312 suspected cases were reported in 367 Local Government Areas (LGAs) across 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). 9 PRNT positive cases were reported from: Enugu (seven cases), Anambra (three cases), Benue (three cases), Delta (two cases), Oyo (two cases) Niger (one case) and Osun (one case) State [12].  After the initial reports in Ibadan in 1964, CHIK reappeared in epidemic form, with virus isolations from man and mosquitoes. A decade later, the second epidemic of Chikungunya occurred among children in Ibadan, Nigeria in 1974 [13]. In Abia State, insect vector infestation account for 5-50% quantitative damage. The abundance of insect (mosquito) larvae sampled  called from the different habitats in the two communities were significant (X2 = 166,692, df = 16, P<0>

Insect are present all over the world. Some insect parasites spend their whole life cycle on the host, while some are facultative parasites. The insect body has three parts: head, thorax, and abdomen. Three pairs of jointed legs are attached to the thorax [14]. The insect has a pair of antennae and many have wings. Insect are capable of transmitting diseases to humans including malaria, dengue fever, chikungunya fever, yellow fever, filariasis, Japanese encephalitis, rift valley fever, and other viral encephalitis and Zika virus  and others to man [15]. Many of these insects are bloodsucking insects, which ingest disease-producing microorganisms during a blood meal from an infected host (human or animal) and later transmit it into a new host, after the pathogen has replicated. Often, once a vector becomes infectious, they are capable of transmitting the pathogen for the rest of their life during each subsequent bite/blood meal. Insect spread diseases due to the fact that they urinate, drop faecal matter, and shed skin/fur around your home [16]. While many insect are culpable, rodents are particularly notorious. They tend to contaminate areas where food is either stored or prepared, making it more likely that we’ll ingest something we should. For example, mice almost constantly dribble urine, meaning if they’ve entered your home, it’s almost certain that urine has been left behind. Simply being in close proximity to them can trigger a person’s allergic reactions. That being said, people are most likely to suffer from an allergic reaction if they are bitten or stung by a pest. For instance, bed bugs don’t pass diseases to humans, but they bite humans and feed on our blood. Some people may have an allergic reaction to being bitten and break out in a rash. Scratching these bites or failing to treat them correctly may also cause them to become infected [17].Insect pest can also irritate symptoms of a pre-existing health condition. For example, people suffering from asthma can be greatly affected by cockroaches. Cockroaches breed at an alarming rate, meaning that once a few gain access to your home, it won’t be long until you have a full infestation. Cockroaches regularly shed their skin and leave droppings, and these break down and become airborne particles. Due to their numbers, these airborne particles can aggravate people with breathing conditions. It may sound unusual, and it’s not often spoken about, but insect pests can have detrimental effects on our mental health. Following a bed bug infestation, some people suffer from insomnia and anxiety for many months after the problem is treated [18] 

The insect infestations have resulted in a significant public health problems and fatal outcomes through aggregates of various factors. The factors partly depend on climate factors. Increasing temperatures, changes to geographic patterns of rainfall, increasing climate variability, increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events will drive the disease profiles Moreover, dynamics of pathogens, insect and hosts will change in response to climate change and will affect fitness of pathogens and vectors. There is a high risk of tropical/subtropical vector-borne diseases spreading into temperate zones. There are also climate-independent factors affecting infectious diseases, which influence disease incidence and must not be neglected.  Socio-economic factors determine how frequently people are bitten by insects (such as how residences are constructed and air conditioned). Efforts to control vector-borne diseases to prevent, diagnose and treat infections are clearly influencing the disease profile. Also, vectors and vector-borne pathogens are being dispersed internationally with increased travel and human migration [19]

In this study, there are socio-demographic variables (factors) that influence the control of insect vectors in such as education, age, culture, attitude and practice. Education is an important pillar of an effective insect vectors control. Most of the educational interventions had a positive impact on knowledge and self-reported adoption of insect vectors protective measures. Level of education was an important variable with respect to insect management and awareness of the disease transmitted by the vectors . It was reported in a study that level of education was significantly related to of prevalence of insect borne disease (p<0>

vomiting, diarrhea, and nausea. Ministry of Health promotes cultural insect control measures, such as personal hygiene, wearing clothes that cover the skin, cleaning, housekeeping, and the removal of breeding sites. With regard to attitudes and practices relating to the control of insects, chemical control measures (insect repellent) are the main prevention method. It was explained by the fact that the direct application of a spray or ointment on the skin is an easy and quick way to preventing contact with insects. However, this method does not eliminate insects and only repels them for periods ranging from 10 min to 5 h, depending on the chemical composition, for example, some repellents contain sunscreen and N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide and N,N-Dimethylbenzamide (DEET), and are not recommended by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because of the limited efficacy of both components [20]

The insect vectors might be remedied by employing integrated preventive and corrective measures to control or prevent insects from causing significant harm to humans and its environment which involves inspecting, identifying, monitoring, evaluating, and choosing the appropriate method of control. Routine inspection and accurate identification of pests are vital steps in PM to ensure that control methods will be effective. Once the pest has been identified and the source of its activity pinpointed, habitat modifications--primarily, exclusion, repair, and sanitation efforts--may greatly reduce the prevalence of the pest. Monitoring includes inspecting areas for insects’ evidence, entry points, food, water, and harborage sites, and estimating pest population levels [21]. The information gained through monitoring is evaluated to determine whether the actions thresh- old has been exceeded and what can be done in the way of prevention. Pest-prevention measures can be incorporated into existing structures. Such preventive measures reduce the need for pesticide applications and include sanitation and structural repair, employing physical and mechanical controls such as screens, traps, weeders, air doors [22]

In this study, to enhance the control of insect vectors Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State two theoretical frame works were used such as Health Belief Model (HBM) and Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). The HBM proposes that pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors are influenced by perceived attitude of an individual, general practice of health values, education, age and socio economics which can be negative and result to threat to their health, families, communities, States and countries at large. However, If Staff of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State perceives a threat to their health as a result of insects vector, is consecutively cued to action, and their perceived benefits outweigh the perceived barriers, then they are likely to undertake the recommended preventive health action against the insects vector. The Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) suggested that a person's behavior is determined by their intention to perform the behavior and that this intention is, in turn, a function of their attitude toward the behavior and subjective norms. However, the Staff of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State can determine to understand pest management control measures. Their behaviors can be negative of positive. The negative aspect towards pest management will lure the Staff into health problems.  The TRA assumes that with the same vein of their behavior under investigation is under volitional control  that is, the Staff of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State believe that they can execute their health problems as a result of insect vectors infestation using pest management control measures whenever they are willing to do so. For example, health problems associated with insect vectors are virtually impossible if pest management control measures are practice among Staff of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State.

Abia State College of Health Sciences and Technology, Aba (ASCOHSTECH), Abia State, was founded in 1948 by the colonial masters with the name, School of Health Technology, to provide ancillary health courses. In 2009, the name was changed to ASCOHSTECH, with the aim of widening its academic scope in tandem with changing times. However, despite this change in nomenclature, the school still remains a glorified secondary school with environment favoring insect vectors infestation through dilapidated buildings covered with thatched roofs [23]. Cracks in the walls and roofs provide the insects with a daytime hiding place and ready nighttime access to domestic animal and human hosts to obtain blood meals. Pest management control measures in the College poses severe challenge to environmental safety, public health and welfare of Staff. The situation is made worse by the indiscriminate dumping of waste in the College. Efforts to improve pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State have not recorded significant success. Therefore this study aims to investigate pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State 

Nowadays, environment of homes, schools, and hospitals are deteriorated, Garbage is not either disposed by sanitary landfilling (controlled tipping), incineration, or composting. Proper drainage not put in place to prevent water from stagnating around distribution points. Insufficient tools are provided to for maintaining the drainage systems. Tyres and cans un-kept giving rise to stagnant water. The conditions, promotes insect vectors infestations and diseases transmission. Insect vectors can transmit several infectious pathogens (e.g., bacteria, parasites, protozoa and viruses) resulting in more than 700,000 deaths per year from vector-borne diseases worldwide, including in Nigeria where insect-borne diseases accounting for more than 15% of all infectious diseases .  Many insects, some spiders, scorpions and centipedes have developed poisoning mechanisms to use in self-defense or in paralyzing their prey. Stings and bites may be intensely painful and irritating to humans but seldom cause death. Other insects cause skin irritations to humans include the puss. Aside from the irritation and annoyance that mosquitoes inflict on humans and livestock alike, the threat of disease pathogen transmission is always present. Malaria, dengue, yellow fever and encephalitis are just a few major representatives of a long list of human diseases for which mosquitoes serve as vectors. These, several forms of insect vectors represent the greatest perennial threat in the Abia State College of Health Sciences and Technology, Aba.. Notwithstanding the above in prevention and control methods of insect vectors with little or no data, vector-borne diseases are still emerging and they remain amongst the major public health concerns in Abia State College of Health Sciences and Technology. Hence, justified the present study to investigate pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State. 

Research Design 

The research design to be used was cross sectional research design to achieve the objectives of the study. 

Area of the Study              

This study was carried out in Abia State College of Health Sciences and Management Technology. Abia State College of Health Sciences and Management Technology, Aba (ASCOHSTECH), Abia State, was founded in 1948 by the colonial masters with the name, School of Health Technology, which the natives shortened to “School of Health,” to provide ancillary health courses. In 2009, the name was changed to ASCOHSTECH, with the aim of widening its academic scope in tandem with changing times. However, despite this change in nomenclature, the school still remains a glorified secondary school, people say. It was in order to put the school on sound footing that Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, on June 10, 2016, drafted Prof. Chidi Ezeama from Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, (MOUAU), to head it. But with what has been happening since then, the governor’s good intention appears to have been receiving negative impact. Since things started to fall apart, it has been one internal crisis after the other, and these have, indeed, impaired growth of the institution. The college has 120 staff and  six Department such as Community Health , Computer Science Education, History, Environmental Health Technology,   Health Information Management and Public Administration  . It was established to provide education that serves the evolving needs of the community, promote the dynamic and creative use of technology for teaching, learning, and service, promote the pursuit of responsible knowledge, professional growth, and development, promote Christian ethics including service, honesty, ethical behavior, and professionalism, explore the curiosity of faculty, staff, and students to drive research that builds our community, provide education that will not be limited due to distance, creed, finances, or disability and guide the school environment against any form of disease outbreak as well as insect vectors infestation. This day the school environment favors insect vectors infestation through dilapidated buildings cracks in the walls and roofs thus, provide the insects with a daytime hiding place and ready nighttime access to domestic animal and human hosts to obtain blood meals. These conditions of the environment triggered the need to be used as the case study by the researcher.

Population of the Study

The target population of the study will be comprised of 872 workers in the Abia State College of Health Sciences and Management Technology 

Sample and Sampling Techniques

A sample of four hundred and thirty six (436) workers will be selected for the study in Abia State College of Health Sciences and Management Technology.by using 50 percent of the respondents who stated that when the population is a few hundred, 50% of the population should be used. Therefore 50% of the population was used to get the sample size of 436 which is a better representation of the population

Sampling Techniques.

Multi-stage sampling technique was adopted in selecting the respondents as follows:

Stage1: Selection of the department.  According to school Management, there are seven departments in Abia State College of Health Sciences and Management Technology, out of the seven departments, four were selected by using simple random technique (balloting) which was done by writing the names of all the departments in a sheet of paper and folded. From the folded papers only four were picked without replacement representing four departments for the study after mixing and shuffling in a basket. 

Stage 2: Selection of Respondents. In each of the randomly selected departments, Staff were selected using simple random technique without replacement. Yes and No will be written in a piece of paper and folded. Thereafter, these was placed in a basket and shaken to mix thoroughly, then the Staff were asked to pick just one paper from the basket, the staff that pick the paper with yes were  selected for the study. This was repeated until 75%  respondents were be selected from each of the four Departments to make up 436 sample size of the populations, thus eliminating bias. 

Inclusion criteria

All male and female Staff who are employed and work in Abia State College of Health Sciences and Management Technology.

Exclusion criteria

All very sick workers, the remaining three (3) units that will not be selected and the staff that will pick the paper with ”No” written on it ( those not randomly selected).

Instrument for Data Collection

The instrument that will be used for data collection was self- designed structured questionnaire. The structured questionnaire will be divided into five sections (A, B, C, D, and E). Section A consisted of three items on socio-demographics variables of the respondents. 

Section B will be consisted of items on attitude towards pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors. Section C will be consisted of items on practice towards pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors. Section D will be consisted of items on influence of Socio demographic variables on pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors. Section C will be consisted of items on influence of Socio culture on pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors. The response choice will be True or False, Strongly Agreed, Agreed, Disagree, Strongly Disagree. The respondents will be required to tick against each item.  The scoring point that will be used for the study will be nominal and interval which is in line with dichotomous scale of true or false and Likert scale  of Strongly Agreed (4), Agreed (3), Disagree (2), Strongly Disagree (1).

Validation of the Instrument 

The face and content of the questionnaire (instrument) will be  established by the judgments of three experts/lecturers from the Department of Public Health, University Nigeria. Each expert will be given the drafted copy of the questionnaire accompanied with specific objectives, research questions and hypothesis of the study. They critically examine the questionnaire and to ascertain whether the content of the instrument covered the objectives of the study, thus, checking for the appropriateness of each item in terms of the suitability of the items in the instrument and make necessary corrections. Their constructive criticisms and corrections will be used to modify and produce the final instrument that will be used for data collection. 

Reliability of the Instrument

Test-retest method that will be used in testing the reliability of the instrument. Twenty (20) copies of the structured questionnaire will be administered to twenty  respondents, ten days later, the same item but fresh copies of instrument will be administered to the same respondents. Results of the Test-retest will be analyzed using Cronbach's Alpha which will yield a positive correlation of 0.89. The instrument will be considered reliable.

Method of Data Collection

 In order to gain access to the respondents, a Letter of Introduction 

from the Head of Department public health introducing the researcher and explaining the purpose of the study will be  collected by the researcher and presented to the college committee to obtain ethical clearance  A brief letter assuring the respondents of their confidentiality will be attached to each questionnaire. On the days scheduled for the questionnaire administration, the researcher will distribute the questionnaire to the workers.

Method of Data Analysis

The chi-square statistics, student t-test and one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were used. It was considered significant at 0.05 level of significance

Socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents

Data on socio-demographics characteristics of respondents as seen in the questionnaire are presented in table 1

Table 4.1

Demographic characteristics of the respondents

Table 4.2

 Attitude towards pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors among workers in college of Health Science and Technology Aba (n=400)

Table 4.3

Practice towards pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia (n=400)

Table 4.4

 Influence of socio-demographic variables (education and age) towards pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors (n=400)

Socio-demographic factors

Table 4.5

 Influence of culture towards pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia (n=400)

Table 4.6

Summary of Chi-square Analysis Testing the Null Hypothesis that attitude variables and pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State, Nigeria.
 

S/N	Variables	Cal. Value ()	Degree of freedom (df)	Tab. value	P – value	Decision
1.	Insect Vector does not exist	6.42	1	3.841	0.05	*
2.	Insect vectors breeding areas	70.4	4	9.488	0.05	*
3.	Insect vectors biting time	63.2	2	5.991	0.05	*
4.	Insect vectors resting place	44.6	4	9.488	0.05	*

* Significant ** Not Significant 

Table 4.7

Summary of Chi-square Analysis Testing the Null Hypothesis that practice variables and pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State, Nigeria.
 

S/N	Variables	Cal. Value ()	Degree of freedom (df)	Tab. value	P – value	Decision
1.	Practicing personal protective measures	88.6	2	5.991	0.05	*
2.	Practicing chemical and environmental control	47.08	6	12.592	0.05	*
3.	Practicing biological control	56.7	2	5.991	0.05	*
4.	Don’t practice any control measure	2.5	1	3.841	0.05	**

* Significant ** Not Significant 

Table 4.8

Summary of Chi-square Analysis Testing the Null Hypothesis that socio-demographic variables and pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors

* Significant ** Not Significant 

Table 4.9

Summary of Chi-square Analysis Testing the Null Hypothesis that culture variables and pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State, Nigeria.

The result of the finding in table 2 revealed that only 52.6 percent of respondents had positive attitude towards pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors indicating slightly more than half attitude towards  insect vectors control methods. The finding was not expected because vector control through elimination of the vector habitat at an early stage is an important primary preventive measure for vector borne diseases. The finding was in agreement with that of [24] assertion that with respect to attitude about vector borne disease prevention, many people were unaware of the most effective prevention methods. The lack of positive attitude likely stems from a lack of IEC (Information, Education and Communication) activities in the study area. The finding was not in line with the assertion of [25] that attitude towards insect vectors behavior is important to take appropriate vector borne disease preventive actions and it was relatively high among participants of the present study. Stagnant water was reported as vector breeding area by most, 129 (64.5%) respondent. Attitude about vector biting time was relatively high, almost all 162 (81.0%) knew that night time is the biting time of most of the vectors. Majority of respondents 140 (70.0%) identified the indoor dark resting place during day as the resting places of vectors. The inconsistency may own to inadequate access to mass media, health education by health workers, and self-experience of insect vectors the study area.

The result of the finding in table 3 revealed that only 34.1percent of respondents practiced insect vectors control methods indicating slightly less than half which is low practice of insect vectors control measures. The finding was unexpected because it is expected to practice insect vectors control measures so as to reduce the high rate of vector borne diseases prevalence. The finding was partly in agreement with that of [26] study that use of other preventive measures was low except use of treated bed net as protective measure against insects vector bites. The finding supports that of [27] who found that knowledge of insect vectors’ habit/control does not necessarily translate into improved practice of preventive measures; an observation reflected in this study. This might be due to poor socioeconomic status and low level of formal education of the college staff.

The result of the finding in table 4 revealed that age influenced insect vectors control methods by a cluster total percentage of 56.2. Hence, age was higher (71.4%) among 40 – 59 and the lowest was 33.2% within the age range of 20 – 39.  Level of education influenced insect vectors control methods by a total cluster percentage of 68.1. Hence, level of education was higher (95.6%) among tertiary education, followed by secondary education (85.7%) and the lowest (25.0%) was among no formal education. The finding was not in line with that of [5] who found that insect vectors control methods in relation to age was higher (83.3%) among age 66-70 followed by those in the age range <20 p=0.014,>

The finding in table 5 revealed that cultural belief influenced insect vectors control methods  by 71.6. Cultural belief was higher (79.2 %) among respondents that belief that mosquito is just a nuisance and its control is not so important. Cultural sanitation practice influenced insect vectors control methods  by 71.6. Cultural sanitation practice was higher (88.9%) among respondents with value of  maintaining clean work, (88.9%), maintaining clean storage facilities, (50.4%), keeping equipment and materials off the ground (46.4%) keeping equipment and materials off the ground, (14.3%) of insect vectors control methods, 23.2% respondents value insect vectors control methods as a daily practice while 76.8 percent of respondents do not value insect vectors control methods as a daily practice. 

The finding was expected because many people are ignorant of causes of vector borne diseases and the findings partly affirmed with that of [19] who found that respondents in their study linked vector borne diseases to lack of food during the fasting season, unhygienic practices, exposure to heat, poor hygiene and evil spirits. The finding also in agreement with that of [20] study who assertion that the respondents believed that mosquito was a nuisance. The finding in table 5 was not astonished in view of the fact that almost everybody rely on government in certain health issue, more especially the one that appears to be a general health problem.   The finding was consistent with of [21]  who found that most caregivers answered that they would allow government workers to spray insecticide in their house, with no significant differences between areas (89.02% urban and 91.91% rural). The finding also supports that of [22] who found that proper environmental sanitation are the major roles played by the government in fighting vector borne diseases. Government sometimes gives out free vector borne diseases treatment example malaria for children and pregnant women.  This approach provides relief to poor households, as their medical bills are paid by the government.

There is no significant difference between attitude variables and pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State, Nigeria Data in Table 6 showed that attitude variable of Insect Vector does not exist, Insect Vector breeding areas, Insect Vector biting time, and attitude towards. Insect Vector resting place were significant determinant of insect vectors control methods,. The finding is in line with [23] that less vector borne diseases and low expenditure incurred in teachers’ group may be due to better socioeconomic condition, education and knowledge of protection from insect vectors bites. The finding is in agreement with that of [24]   that attitude and practices regarding the management of non-severe and severe or complicated vector borne diseases were significant. 

There was no significant difference between practice variables and pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State, Nigeria.  Data in Table 7 showed that practicing personal control, practicing environmental and biological control were significant determinant of malaria vector control strategies. The finding is partially in line with [24] that use of smoke as a prevention measure was more common among rural and tribal respondents compared to slum and urban respondents. The finding is in agreement with that of [25]   that illiteracy and residence in western India were also associated with use of smoke as prevention measure. College-educated respondents were 2 to 3.6 times more knowledgeable about several prevention measures. The finding is consistent with that of [26] that education and income both were found to be significant predictors of prevention practices related to insect borne diseases. The finding is also in agreement with that of [27] that knowledge and practices regarding the management of non-severe and severe or complicated insect borne diseases were significant. 

There is no significant difference between socio-demographic variables and pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State, Nigeria Data in Table 8 showed that age, and  level of education were significant determinant of insect vectors control methods, therefore, the Null Hypothesis was rejected. The finding is in line with that of [28] that respondents above 40 years of age had significantly better attitude towards insect vectors control methods. The finding is also in agreement with that of [29] that age and gender, economic status and access to health care as well as village of residence are associated with people’s risk to vector borne diseases. The finding is also in agreement with that of [30] asserted that less vector borne disease  and low expenditure incurred in teachers’ group may be due to their better education of protection from vector bites. The finding is also in line with that of Sharma, [31] that illiteracy was associated with use of smoke as prevention measure, also college-educated respondents was 2 to 3.6 times more knowledgeable about vector borne diseases prevention measures.

There is no significant difference between culture variables and pest management methods employed in the control of insect vectors in college of Health Science and Technology Aba Abia State, Nigeria.  Data in Table 10 showed that cultural factors were significant determinant of insect vectors control methods. The finding is in agreement with the finding of [32] that accessibility to information on insect vectors and control methods were generally low, and to a large extent influenced by their cultural beliefs, norms, values and low economic strengths.