Occurrence and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Profile of Isolates from Animal Origin Food Items in Selected Areas of Arsi Zone, Southeastern Ethiopia, 2018/19.

The status of and its antimicrobial susceptibility profile in animal origin food items from different catering establishments in Ethiopia is scarce. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the occurrence and antimicrobial susceptibility profile of isolates from animal origin food items in the selected areas of Arsi Zone. One hundred ninety-two animal origin food samples were collected and processed for isolation. Isolates were tested for their susceptibility to 13 antimicrobials using Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion assay. An overall prevalence of 9.4% (18/192) spp. isolates were recovered from animal origin food samples collected from different catering establishments. Seven (21.9%) of 4 (12.5%) of 3 (9.4%) of 2 (6.3%) of raw milk, 1 (3.1%) of egg sandwich and 1 (3.1%) of cream cake samples were positive for Catering establishments, protective clothing, source of contamination, manner of hand washing, and money handling were among the putative risk factors that were significantly associated ( < 0.05) with spp. occurrence. Ampicillin, nitrofurans, and sulphonamide resistance were significantly associated ( < 0.05) with spp. occurrence in the selected food items. Three (16.7%), 5 (27.8%), 5 (27.8%), and 4 (22.2%) of the isolates were resistant to 3, 4, 5, and 6 antibiotics, respectively, whereas only a sole isolate was resistant to two antibiotics (viz. ampicillin and kanamycin). In conclusion, the general sanitary condition of the catering establishments, utensils used, and personnel hygienic practices were not to the recommended standards in the current study. Besides, detection of multidrug-resistant strains of in animal origin food items from different catering establishments suggests the need for detailed epidemiological and molecular characterization of the pathogen so as to establish the sources of acquisition of resistant strains. Hence, implementation of prevention and control strategies from farm production to consumption of animal origin food items are crucial.