Healthcare workers' knowledge and preparedness for unprecedented foodborne botulism outbreak in Saudi Arabia.

Background: The recent unprecedented foodborne botulism outbreak in Saudi Arabia necessitated an assessment of healthcare workers' (HCWs) knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP). This study assessed healthcare workers' knowledge regarding the transmission, contagiousness, presentation, and diagnosis of foodborne botulism, as well as their management practices, including contacting public health authorities, administering antitoxin, preparedness to respond to botulism cases and consulting generative Artificial Intelligent (AI)-chatbots, like ChatGPT.

Methods: A cross-sectional online survey targeting Saudi HCWs was conducted from May 6-19, 2024, following the first foodborne botulism outbreak.