Akafite TekluYohannes Semahegne2026-08-122026-08-122011-06-01https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/8856A cross-sectional study was conducted from October, ·2010 to May, 2011 on apparently healthy broiler chickens (n=263) to assess the extent of colonization and the subsequent contamination of chicken carcass with thermophlic Campylobacter species in Debre Zeit. The study involved six randomly selected broiler farms (2 large and 4 small scale farms) situated in Debre Zeit, where broilers are raised and slaughtered. From the total of 526 fecal and carcass swab samples, thermophilic Campylobacler species were isolated in 284 (54%) samples. Thermophilic Campylobacter spp. were isolated from 149 (56.65%) of the 263 fecal swab samples investigated from six poultry fanns. Among the 149 viable isolates, 141 (94.63%) were identified as C.jejuni while only 8 (5.37%) were identified as C. coli. On the other hand, 135 (51.33%) of the carcass swab samples were found positive for thermophilic Campylobacter spp. 133 (89.26%) of these isolates were identified as C. jejuni and only 2 (1.34%) were isolates of C. coli. There were statistically significant differences in the isolation rates of Campylobacter species among large and small production scale, and amongst the farms studied. However, there were no statistically significant differences in the isolation rate of Campylobacter species between the sexes and between the types of sample examined. The results of this study indicate that thermophilic campylobacters are very frequent among poultry in Ethiopia, suggesting possible risks of infection to people through the consumption of contaminated poultry products or through contact with infected poultryenCampylobaclerthermophilicbroilerprevalencecarcassfecesisolationDebre ZeitThesis