Salmonella, Campylobacter and Escherichia coli (E. coli) are common foodborne zoonotic bacteria with a significant risk of transmission through poultry and related products. Chicken is the most commonly available and consumed meat type in Sri Lanka, hence this study aimed to identify the occurrence of those microorganisms in retail chicken products that may be posing a direct risk to consumers. A total of 124 chicken samples of chilled or frozen raw meat, sausages, meat balls, and cooked chicken curries were purchased from retail outlets in Kandy municipality area. The presence of above organisms and the antimicrobial resistance profiles of E. coli isolates were tested utilizing standard methods. All types of samples except chicken curries were contaminated with Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli to different extents. Frequencies of contamination of sausages and meat balls with Salmonella and Campylobacter were lower than the contamination with E. coli. A higher proportion of loose sausages were positive for E. coli compared to packaged sausages. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns of E. coli isolates indicated that all were resistant to ampicillin, tetracycline and streptomycin but susceptible to gentamicin, imipenem and amikacin. The study reinforces the importance of adequate cooking of chicken meat and meat products. Microbiological safety of food was a challenge 20 years ago and continues to be challenging with new ones emerging (Newell et al., 2010). It was reported that in 2010 thirty-one foodborne hazards (including viruses, bacteria, protozoa, helminths and chemicals) have caused 600 million foodborne illnesses and 420,000 deaths globally (Havelaar et al., 2015). Among these, foodborne bacterial diseases account for the major part of the burden where Campylobacter, Salmonella and Escherichia coli (E. coli) are reported most frequently (Scallan et al., 2011). The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in the USA (CDC) has identified eight main pathogens as food contaminants and the three named above are the most important of these (CDC, 2014). Among them campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis are the two very important diseases because more than 90% of bacterial originated foodborne cases across the globe represent these two groups (Thorns, 2000). Campylobacteriosis is considered to be the most common bacterial zoonosis in the world (Kaakoush et al., 2015). In the case of salmonellosis it is known to be responsible for over 90 million cases associated with diarrhoea, out of which 85% have a link to food (Majowicz et al., 2010). Aggravating the problem, consumption of food contaminated with a strain of bacteria that is resistant to antimicrobials may lead to an infection in humans that cannot be successfully treated with antibacterial drugs (CDC, 2018). Developed countries conduct regular surveillance studies on foodborne bacterial pathogens and poultry h a s b e e n i d e n t i fi e d a s a m a j o r s o u r c e o f

SUMMARY: During religious, cultural and other human entertainment activities domesticated elephants comeinto close contact with humans creating a potential disease transmission threat between elephants and humans. The main objective of the study was to screen the elephants participated in the Esala Perahera 2015 for the zoonotic bacterial pathogens namely Salmonella, Campylobacter and Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex. Further, the antimicrobial susceptibility of the fecal E. coli and zoonotic pathogens isolated were determined to identify multidrug resistant organisms.The isolation rates for E.coli and Salmonella were 100% and 8%, respectively while Campylobacter was not isolated from any of the fecal samples collected. Three of the four Salmonella isolates were resistant to ampicillin and tetracycline and all four isolates were susceptible to nalidixic acid, streptomycin, gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim combination, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ceftriaxone, imipenem and amikacin. A number of E.coli isolates were resistant to ampicillin (8%), sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim combination (8%), tetracycline (8%), ceftriaxone (8%), amikacin (6%), nalidixic acid (4%), imipenem (4%), gentamicin (2%), streptomycin (2%), ceftazidime (2%) and ciprofloxacin (2%). However, all tested E.coli isolates were susceptible to cefotaxime.Further, 8% of the E. coli isolates showed resistance tothree or more antimicrobial groups used and can be classified asmultidrug resistant. None of the elephants yielded a positive result for the fecal PCR assay indicating that the animals did not excrete pathogenic mycobacteria in their feces.