Raw Animal Meats as Potential Sources of in Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia.

present in feces of food animals may contaminate their meats and act as a potential source of infection (CDI) to humans. resistance to antibiotics, its production of toxins and spores play major roles in the pathogenesis of CDI. This is the first study to evaluate prevalence in retail raw animal meats, its antibiotics susceptibilities and toxigenic activities in Al-Jouf, Saudi Arabia. Totally, 240 meat samples were tested. was identified by standard microbiological and biochemical methods. Vitek-2 compact system confirmed isolates were 15/240 (6.3%). Toxins A/B were not detected by Xpect toxin A/B tests. Although all isolates were susceptible to vancomycin and metronidazole, variable degrees of reduced susceptibilities to moxifloxacin, clindamycin or tetracycline antibiotics were detected by Epsilon tests. strains with reduced susceptibility to antibiotics should be investigated. Variability between the worldwide reported contamination levels could be due to absence of a gold standard procedure for its isolation. Establishment of a unified testing algorithm for detection in food products is definitely essential to evaluate the inter-regional variation in its prevalence on national and international levels. Proper use of antimicrobials during animal husbandry is crucial to control the selective drug pressure on strains associated with food animals. Investigating the protective or pathogenic potential of non-toxigenic strains and the possibility of gene transfer from certain toxigenic/ antibiotics-resistant to non-toxigenic/antibiotics-sensitive strains, respectively, should be worthy of attention.