Background: Diarrhea among prisoners caused by enteric bacteria is a public health problemsrnworldwide, especially in tropical and developing countries; Antimicrobial resistance ofrnenteropathogenic bacteria has profound clinical implications. Poor sanitation and restriction tornwater access may favor the spread of enteropathogenic bacteria, which is one of thernleading causes of morbidity in the world.rnObjectives: To determine the prevalence, antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and associatedrnrisk factors of acute gastroenteritis among prisoners at Kality prison, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.rnMethods: Cross-sectional study was conducted from January, 2017 to September, 2017 on arntotal of 238 prison inmates having acute gastroenteritis. All study participants; fresh stoolrnspecimen was collected by using Caryp-Blair transport media. Samples were transported to EPHIrnbacteriology laboratory at 2-80c for bacteriological analysis and each specimen were inoculatedrnonto XLD agar, MAC agar, SMAC agar and SFB. Pure isolates were characterized based onrnbacterial colony morphology and standard biochemical procedures. Antimicrobial susceptibilityrntesting was done on Muller-Hinton agar using disk diffusion. Socio-demographic and associatedrnrisk factors data were gathered using a predesigned structured questionnaire. Socio-demographic,rnclinical and laboratory data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 23.rnResults: The overall prevalence of entropathogenic bacteria in this study was 20.6% (n=49/238).rnOut of this 55%, 28.6% and 16.3% of the isolates were positive for E.coli O157H7, Shigella spp.rnand Salmonella spp respectively. E.coli 0157; H7 was highly resistance to ampicillin (96.29%),rnwhile they showed lower level of resistance to cotrimoxazole and Ceftriaxone. Shigella andrnSalmonella isolates showed100% resistance to ampicillin. In the other hand, all isolates of E. colirn0157; H7 were 100% susceptible to Nalidixic Acid and Ciprofloxacin. Isolates of Salmonellarnspp. were 100% susceptible to Ceftriaxone, Nalidixic Acid, cotrimoxazole, and Ciprofloxacin.rnConclusions: Enteropathogenic bacteria from acute gastroenteritis were high among prisonerrninmates. Multidrug resistance was common among shigella spp and E.coli O157H7. Ampicillinrnand cotrimoxazole showed high resistance to E.coli O157H7 and Shigella isolates in this study.rnCiprofloxacin was susceptible for both Salmonella and Shigella isolates.