Background and aim: Pathogenic Listeria species are responsible for foodborne diseases and high mortality and ‎morbidity among immunosuppressed humans‎ ‎‎‎‎.
Patients and Methods: ‎‎‎ A cross-sectional study was conducted between March and November 2015 to determine the ‎AMR profile and virulence genes associated with Listeria monocytogenes from beef sold in ‎Zaria. A total of 240 raw beef samples were collected from beef retailers in Zaria city, Tudun-‎Wada, Danmagaji, Sabon Gari, Kwangila, and Samaru. The samples were transported to the ‎Veterinary Public Health laboratory, ABU, Zaria, for processing. The isolates were further ‎identified as Listeria species by biochemical tests. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was ‎performed by disc diffusion method. Multiplex PCR was used to identify the virulence genes ‎associated with Listeria monocytogenes. The data were analysed using SPSS V23.0 and ‎Microsoft Excel version 2019 for Windows 10. Odd ratio and 95% CI were determined. Value ‎of P< 0.05 was considered significant‎‎‎.‎
Results: Four different Listeria species were recovered from 66/240 (27.5%) meat samples. The Listeria species were L. grayi 39(59.1%), L. innocua 13 (19.7%), L. monocytogenes 8 (12.5) and L. ivanovii 6 (9.1).High percentages of Cefixime (87.5%) and Tetracycline (87.5%) susceptibility were found. The L. monocytogenes displayed high rate of resistance to Ampicillin (100%) and gentamicin (87.5%). Isolates from Sabon-gari, Tudun-Wada, and Zaria city had the highest Multiple AMR index (0.73). Two virulence genes were also identified: inlA 1 (12.5%) and iap < /em> 5 (62.5%)‎‎‎.
Conclusion: This revealed that Listeria monocytogenes prevalent in meat samples in Zaria have multiple AMR, and possess virulencegenes ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎.