Introduction: Listeria monocytogenes is of major significance in human and veterinary medicine. Most human Listeria infections are foodborne and the association of contaminated milk and dairy produce consumption with human listeriosis is noteworthy. In Ethiopia, there is limited data regarding the prevalence of L. monocytogenes in raw bovine milk and dairy products. The aim of this study was, therefore, to determine the prevalence of L. monocytogenes in raw bovine milk and dairy produce. Methodology: A total of 443 milk and milk product samples were microbiologically analyzed following methods recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Bacteriological Analytical Manual to isolate Listeria spp. Results: The overall prevalence of Listeria spp. was 28.4% and specifically that of L. monocytogenes was 5.6%. Taking the prevalence of Listeria spp. into consideration, cheese was found to be highly contaminated at 60%, followed by pasteurized milk samples (40%), raw milk (18.9%) and yoghurt (5%). Considering the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes only, raw milk had the lowest contamination while cheese had the highest, followed by pasteurized milk and yoghurt. Conclusions: Raw milk and milk products produced in urban and peri-urban areas of central Ethiopia were contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, L. monocytogenes. The detection of this pathogen in raw milk and milk products warrants an urgent regulatory mechanism to be put in place and also the potential role of milk processing plants in the contamination of dairy products should be investigated.

Introduction: Staphylococcal food intoxication is dependent on the production of enterotoxins, the single most important virulence factors. Various studies conducted in Ethiopia have depicted the prevalence of S. aureus in bovine milk. However, there is no published data regarding the enterotoxin gene profile of S. aureus isolates in Ethiopia. The aim of this study was, therefore, to evaluate enterotoxin gene carriage profile of S. aureus isolates recovered from bovine milk samples from central Ethiopia. Methodology: In this study, 109 S. aureus isolates recovered from bovine milk were analyzed for carriage of the classical enterotoxin genes. Genomic DNA extraction was performed using a commercially available kit. Two sets of multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays were used to detect the five classical enterotoxin-coding genes and the toxic shock syndrome toxin gene. Results: At least one type of S. aureus enterotoxin gene (SE) was carried in 73 (66.9%) of the isolates. The most frequently encountered gene was sea (40; 36.7%) followed by seb (19; 17.4%), see (18; 16.5%), tst (16; 14.7%), sec-1 (12; 11.01%), and sed (7; 6.4%). Of the 73 S. aureus isolates harboring at least one of the enterotoxin genes, 26 (35.6%) strains harbored more than one enterotoxin gene. Conclusions: More than half of the S. aureus isolates harbored at least one of the enterotoxin coding genes, indicating milk specimens contaminated by S. aureus could have a high chance of causing food intoxication.

Antimicrobial resistance is becoming an extremely serious global problem. The goal of this study was to determine the prevalence and phenotypic and genotypic characteristics of Staphylococcus aureus isolated from milk and milk product samples in Ethiopia and also to determine the presence of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). A total of 577 milk and milk product samples were collected from central Ethiopia and Staphylococcus spp. were isolated using the method described in FDA Bacteriological Analytical Manual (BAM). Resistance of S. aureus isolates to 12 antimicrobials was determined by using the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion method. PCR detection of mecA and nuc gene was also conducted. To determine the clonal relatedness of S. aureus isolates, DNA fingerprinting of selected isolates was performed by PFGE. Of the 577 milk and milk product samples investigated, S. aureus isolates were recovered from 120 (21%) of the sample. In addition, coagulase negative Staphylococcus species were also isolated from 361/577 (63%) of the samples. The highest frequency of resistance was observed for penicillin (83%) and the lowest was noted for amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (3%) and gentamicin (3%). Fourteen (14) isolates (13%) recovered from raw milk were found to be susceptible to all the tested antimicrobials while 57% of the isolates were resistant to more than one of the antimicrobials. All the isolates were susceptible to vancomycin and none were found to be methicillin resistant S. aureus based on mecA gene carriage. PFGE analysis of 39 S. aureus isolates identified three separate clonal clusters and also several sporadic isolates. S. aureus isolates in this study were found to be resistant to multiple antimicrobials. This warrants a larger representative study to fully understand the extent of the problem and design better strategies for regulation of antimicrobial use in both the medical and veterinary sectors in central Ethiopia. Key words: Bovine milk, Ethiopia, genotypic resistance, Staphylococcus aureus.

Background: Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a highly transmittable virus that continues to disrupt livelihoods, particularly those of low income segments of society, around the world. In Ethiopia, more specifically in the capital city of Addis Ababa, a sudden increase in the number of confirmed positive cases in high-risk groups of the community has been observed over the last few weeks of the first case. Therefore, this study aims to assess knowledge, practices and associated factors that can contribute to the prevention of COVID-19 among high-risk groups in Addis Ababa. Methods: A cross-sectional in person survey (n=6007) was conducted from 14-30 April, 2020 following a prioritization within high-risk groups in Addis Ababa. The study area targeted bus stations, public transport drivers, air transport infrastructure, health facilities, public and private pharmacies, hotels, government-owned and private banks, telecom centers, trade centers, orphanages, elderly centers, prison, prisons and selected slum areas where the people live in a crowed. A questionnaire comprised of four sections (demographics, knowledge, practice and reported symptoms) was used for data collection. The outcomes (knowledge on the transmission and prevention of COVID-19 and practices) were measured using four items. A multi variable logistic regression was applied with adjustment for potential confounding. Results: About half (48%, 95% CI: 46-49) of the study participants had poor knowledge on the transmission mode of COVID-19 whereas six out of ten (60%, 95% CI: 58-61) had good knowledge on prevention methods for COVID-19. The practice of preventive measures towards COVID-19 was found to be low (49%, 95% CI: 48-50). Factors that influence knowledge on COVID-19 transmission mechanisms were female gender, older age, occupation (health care and grocery worker), lower income and the use of the 8335 free call centre. Older age, occupation (being a health worker), middle income, experience of respiratory illness and religion were significantly associated with being knowledgeable about the prevention methods for COVID-19. The study found that occupation, religion, income, knowledge on the transmission and prevention of COVID-19 were associated with the practice of precautionary measures towards COVID-19. Conclusion: The study highlighted that there was moderate knowledge about transmission modes and prevention mechanism. Similarly, there was moderate practice of measures that contribute towards the prevention of COVID-19 among these priority high risk communities of Addis Ababa. There is an urgent need to fill the knowledge gap in terms of transmission mode and prevention methods of COVID-19 to improve preventions practices and control the spread of COVID-19. Use of female public figures and religious leaders could support the effort towards the increase in awareness.

Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a commensal bacterium commonly found in the intestines of humans and animals. Certain pathogenic E. coli strains can lead to severe food poisoning. While different studies have been conducted in Ethiopia with regard to the contamination of food of animal origin with E. coil, there are limited studies that tend to characterize E. coli at a genomic level. The objective of this study was to assess the diversity, virulence profile, pathotypes and antimicrobial resistance markers of E. coli isolated from raw beef samples. A total of 16 E. coli isolates were subject to whole genome sequence analysis. The genomes were analyzed using different bioinformatics tools including AMRFinderPlus, and PlasmidFinder that were used to identify Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes and plasmids, respectively. The two major serotypes identified were O157:H7 (25%) and O82:H8 (12.5%) accounting for 37.5% of all the isolates sequenced. The sequenced E. coli isolates were classified into 13 sequence types (ST) of which ST11 was the predominant one and it was exclusively isolated from the beef samples from Burayu butcher shop. Seven (43.8%) of the E. coli were diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes (Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), n = 4, and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), n = 3). Two STEC isolates were assigned to ST101. Two major virulence genes were detected in both pathotypes-eae (4/16) and stx1(3/16). Antimicrobial resistance genetic markers carried on mobile genetic elements such as aph (3'')-Ib (n = 3), aph(6)-Id (n = 2), sul₂ (n = 2), tet(B) (n = 3), and blaTEM-₁ (n = 3) were frequently detected in the study isolates. In conclusion, this study revealed that E. coli isolates obtained from meat samples were clonally related within the specified geographic location and certain sequence types appear to be found in different location indicating potential cross contamination.