en تخصصي Special Original article Original article <span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="font-family:times new roman;"><strong>Background: </strong>Muscle foods, notably red meat, poultry meat, and fish are the first choice of animal source food with adequate protein for human. The present study was undertaken to analyze the load and antibiotic susceptibility pattern of microorganisms in muscle foods sold in Akure, Southwest Nigeria.<br> <strong>Methods:</strong> Hundred muscle food samples, including meat and fish were collected from different locations (A-E) of Akure, Nigeria and examined microbiologically using cultural techniques, biochemical tests, and analytical profile index. Antibiotic susceptibility patterns were also determined in isolated microorganisms from muscle foods against different antibiotics. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 17.0.<br> <strong>Results:</strong> The highest (<em>p</em><0.05) total viable bacterial count (8.3&times;10⁶ CFU/g) were obtained from pork, including with 6.0&times;10⁵ CFU/g for <em>Staphylococcus</em> and 5.8&times;10⁵ CFU/g for<em> Salmonella</em>-<em>Shigella</em>. Mackerel collected from location D (Kings market) had the highest (<em>p</em><0.05) bacterial count of 9.97&times;10⁵CFU/g, followed by 8.57&times;10⁵CFU/g, and 7.03&times;10⁵CFU/g in locations C and E, respectively. Low fungal counts were recorded ranged from 1.0&times;10² to 1.30&times;10² spore forming unit/g. The highest (<em>p</em><0.05) occurrence of 26.50% was observed for <em>Escherichia coli</em>. The isolated microorganisms displayed varying degree of resistance (33.3 to 100%) to commonly used antibiotics.<br> <strong>Conclusion:</strong> The microorganisms found in muscle foods from Akure, Nigeria could be considered as result of poor hygiene of the retailers or handlers. Also, presence of the multidrug resistant bacteria in muscle foods distributed in this region could pose a serious risk factor to public health.&nbsp;&nbsp;<br> <br> <strong>DOI:</strong> 10.18502/jfqhc.6.1.456</span></span> Meat, Drug Resistance, Microbial, Food Safety, Nigeria 30 36 http://jfqhc.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-700-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 R.S. Bodunde No Department of Microbiology, The Federal University of Technology, PMB 704, Akure, Nigeria C.O. Ogidi clementogidi@yahoo.com 0000-0002-4154-6750 Yes Department of Microbiology, The Federal University of Technology, PMB 704, Akure, Nigeria B.J. Akinyele No Department of Microbiology, The Federal University of Technology, PMB 704, Akure, Nigeria