Findings: We conducted a Cross-sectional study to collect two hundred raw chicken samples that were randomly
purchased between the periods of August 2011-February 2012. Enumeration of bacteria was done using 3 M Petri film
E. coli/Coliform count plates, isolation and identification of E. coli through standard cultural and biochemical testing,
antimicrobial susceptibilities interpreted according to criteria set by the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute
(2012) while Polymerase chain reaction assays were used to determine presence of virulence genes in isolated E. coli.
Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17.0. Contamination rates were 97% and 78% respectively for Coliform bacteria
and E. coli. Seventy six percent of samples fell under the unacceptable microbial count limit (>100 cfu/ml) and
significant differences in the E. coli/coliform counts (p < 0.001) were observed among the chicken retail outlets
with samples from supermarkets having the lowest level of contamination compared to the rest of the retail outlets.
Seventy five percent of the isolates were resistant to at least one of the 12 antibiotics tested with resistance to tetracycline
being the highest at 60.3%. In addition 40.4% E. coli isolates were positive for the ten virulence genes tested.