E.coli is one of the main pathogenic bacteria found in meat and its products. In this study, we investigated the prevalence and incidence of E.coli in frsh retail meat in Egyptian markets. A random samples of 90 fresh retail meat (beef) were collected from various butcher shops located in Cairo, Giza and Benha governorates (30 of each). The collected samples were subjected to bacteriological, biochemical analysis to assess their edibility for human consumption according to standard specifications. The results showed that the incidence of E.coli pathogens in the samples Cairo, Giza and Benha was 13.3, 16.7, and 26.7 % with an average incidence 18.9 %. Serological and PCR examination were performed to identify strain types in positive samples. The identified serovars of pathogenic E.coli were O26:H11 (3.3%), O111:H2 (6.7%) and O125:H21 (3.3%) in Cairo collected samples, O44:H18 (3.3%), O111:H2 (3.3%), O117:H4 (3.3%) and O127:H6 (6.7%) in Giza collected samples and O15:H2 (3.3%), O26:H11 (10%), O86 (3.3%), O91:H21 (6.7%) and O159 (3.3%) in Benha collected samples.