ABSTRACT
Background: Campylobacter jejuni/coli are frequent causes of diarrhea in humans worldwide originating in foods of animal origin mainly from poultry. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of thermotolerant Campylobacter strains in retail raw meat products. Methods: During a 4-month period from November 2006 to April 2007; a total of 540 raw meat samples were collected from beef (n=227); sheep (n=114); goat (n=92); chicken (n=60) and pork (n=47) and analyzed for Campylobacter spp. Results: Campylobacter spp. were isolated from 50 (9.3) out of 540 meat samples. The highest prevalence (21.7) was recorded in chicken meat; followed by sheep meat (10.5); pork meat (8.5); goat meat (7.6) and beef (6.2). Among the isolates; 39 (78) were identified to be C. jejuni; 9 (18) were C. coli and 2 (4) were C. lari. Lower resistance rates (2-6) were observed for amoxicillin; chloramphenicol and erythromycin than (10-20) for ampicillin; gentamicin; kanamycin; treptomycin and tetracycline. Multidrug resistance to two or more drugs was detected in 20of strains. Conclusion: Raw meat from food animals could serve as potential source of campylobacter; indicating possible risks of infection to people through the consumption of raw/under-cooked meat. Low percentages of resistance to most antimicrobial agents tested in this study may be the indirect result of low/no usage of these agents as a growth promoter or treatment in food animals in the Ethiopian animal farm setting