Prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility profile of Staphylococcus aureus from meat, abattoir workers, equipment and water samples at Abergelle International Livestock Development PLC, Mekelle, Northern Ethiopia

Raw meat is one of the main sources of food borne infections worldwide. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is one of the key organisms that is prevalent in contaminated meat, having different patterns of antimicrobial susceptibility to different antibiotics. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of S. aureus in meat, abattoir workers, water, and equipment samples. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to September 2023 at the Abergelle International Export Abattoir, Tigray, Ethiopia. Meat and equipment samples were collected via simple random sampling, while swabs from slaughter lines, personnel, and water were obtained by convenience sampling, all aseptically on a weekly basis after flaying process of slaughtering. A total of 400 samples were collected: 233 meat, 95 equipment, 24 slaughter line, 48 personnel, and 24 water samples. Antimicrobial susceptibility test was conducted on 20 randomly selected S. aureus isolates using the disk diffusion method. Data were entered in EpiData manager 4.6 and analyzed with SPSS 27 for descriptive and inferential statistics. The overall prevalence of S. aureus was 29.3% (117/400). Isolation rates varied by sample type (p < 0.05): meat 18.5% (43/233), personnel 54.1% (26/48), equipment 37.8% (31/82), and water 12.5% (3/24), with knife swabs showing the highest contamination (83.3%, 20/24). Prevalence was higher in cattle slaughterhouse (33.7%, 85/252; AOR: 1.74; 95% CI: 1.07–2.82; p < 0.05) than shoat slaughterhouse (21.6%, 32/148) and higher during non-fasting periods (35.2%, 70/199; AOR = 1.69; 95% CI: 1.06–2.70; p < 0.05) than fasting periods (23.4%, 47/201). All isolates were fully susceptible to ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, and sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim. Resistance was highest to penicillin-G (90%). Multidrug resistance (MDR) occurred in 20% of the isolates. The abattoir exhibited notable contamination with S. aureus, including multidrug-resistant strains, with particularly high contamination associated with processing equipment and personnel hands. These findings reveal critical hygiene gaps along the slaughter line and emphasize the need for targeted sanitation measures and routine antimicrobial susceptibility monitoring within a One Health framework to limit the spread of resistant organisms.