Abstract:
Campylobacter is an intestinal bacterium of animals, especially poultry, cattle and other livestock.
It is one of the most common bacterial causes of foodborne infection in humans worldwide, usually
through the ingestion of contaminated food and water. The aim of the study was to estimate the
prevalence of Campylobacter in raw cow milk through its supply chain and to assess the
contribution factors for contamination of raw cow milk in Maya City. A total of 127 raw cow milk
samples with 60 milk contact associate environmental samples were collected from February 2024
to July 2024 through a cross-sectional type of study. Raw milk and environmental samples were
collected and processed using enrichment, differential, and selective medium. Risk factors for
Campylobacter occurrences were assessed using culture method laboratory diagnosis of milk and
environmental samples and structured questionnaire surveys, followed by binary and
multivariable logistic regression analysis. The prevalence of Campylobacter in tested raw cow
milk was 11.02% (95% CI: 0.95-9.68), and in environmental samples it was 8.3% (95% CI: 0.14-
1.71), resulting in an overall prevalence of 10.70%. The occurrence of Campylobacter in raw cow
milk was significantly associated with poor cleanness of the house (AOR: 14.35, 95% CI: 1.25-
164.62), poor cow cleanliness (AOR: 5.7, 95% CI: 1.23-40.20), use of unclean containers (AOR:
6.63, 95% CI: 1.28-34.35. The current study indicated that there is a significant prevalence of
Campylobacter in fresh farm milk from milk selling sites (17.7%) and udder milk (6.6%) from
individual dairy cows. A questionnaire survey revealed limited awareness, with 95% of
respondents lacking training in hygienic milk handling. The prevalence of Campylobacter in raw
cow milk supplied to the community is slightly high in the Maya City East Hararghe zone, Ethiopia, when compared with other studies in the country. It is highly associated with hygiene practices in
the milk supply value chain. Thus, strict hygiene measures, including cleaning and disinfection of
milking areas, equipment, and containers, as well as efforts should be made to establish baseline
data for Campylobacter prevalence in the study area to enable trend analysis and better
epidemiological understanding.
