Summary: | The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the microbial quality and safety of rabbit meat. A total of 49 rabbit meat samples were taken at the retail level. The mesophiles, staphylococci, <i>Enterobacterales</i>, and <i>Pseudomonas</i> spp. counts were 4.94 ± 1.08, 2.59 ± 0.70, 2.82 ± 0.67, and 3.23 ± 0.76 log CFU/g, respectively. <i>Campylobacter</i> spp. were not detected in any sample. <i>Listeria monocytogenes</i> was isolated from one sample (2.04%) at levels below 1.00 log CFU/g. Multi-resistant <i>S aureus</i> was found in seven samples (14.9%). Methicillin-resistant <i>S. aureus</i>, <i>S. epidermidis</i>, <i>S. haemolyticus</i>, <i>M. caseolyticus</i>, and <i>M. sciuri</i> were found in a sample each (10.20%), and all of them were multi-resistant. Multi-resistant ESBL-producing <i>E. coli</i> were detected in two samples from the same retailer (4.08%). The high resistance found in methicillin-resistant staphylococci and ESBL-producing <i>E. coli</i> is of particular concern, and suggests that special measures should be taken in rabbit meat.
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