Listeriosis is a disease of humans and animals, which is mostly caused by Listeriarnmonocytogenes, as the result of food and environmental contamination as well asrnzoontic infections. In the world, this disease is becoming an emerging bacterialrndisease, with low incidence but high case fatality rate. The objective of this study wasrnto isolate L. monocytogenes from retail meat and diary products (raw milk, cottagerncheese, cream cake) and to detect their antimicrobial profile.rnTwo hundred and forty food samples were purchased from food vendors, shops andrnsupermarkets, using cross-sectional study design, from July to December 2006. L.rnmonocytogenes isolation were performed according to the standard procedures usingrnListeria enrichment broth, Modified Fraser broth, Polymyxin Acriflavine LithiumrnChloride Ceftazidime Aesculine Mannitol (PALCAM) and Oxford Agar (OXA) mediarnas well as confirmatory broths like rhamnose, xylose, mannitol; blood agar andrnChriste Atkins Munch Peterson (CAMP) test. The antimicrobial profile of L.rnmonocytogenes was also assessed by using the standard disk diffusion method (KirbyrnBauer, Muller Hinton agar) and it was tested against 14 antimicrobial drugs.rnOut of 240 food samples tested, 66(27.5%) were positive for Listeria species. Thernprevalence rate of L. monocytogenes was found to be 13 (5.4%). The antimicrobialrnprofile of L. monocytogenes was also assesed and it was found that L. monocytogenesrnwas sensitive to most drugs except clindamycin which showed the highest resistancernrate (100%) and also to certain extent, to chloramphenicol (53.9%), tetracyclinern(31.8%) penicillin (23.1%), and rifampicin (15.4%).