Background:Infection of the external structures of the eye is one of the commonest types of eyerndisease worldwide including Ethiopia.Generally, infection of the eye can lead loss or impairmentrnof visual function causing major disability. Therefore, prompt isolation and testing susceptibilityrnof bacterial isolates are necessary for bettertreatment of bacterial ocular infection.rnObjective:the aim of this study was to assess the magnitude of bacterial isolates from externalrnocular infections and their antibiotics susceptibility status among patients visiting ophthalmologyrnunit of Menelik II Referral Hospital, Ethiopia. rnMethods: A Hospital based cross sectional prospective study was conducted at the Menelik IIrnReferral Hospital among patients seeking health services at the department of ophthalmologyrnfrom Januaryto April, 2019. All patients confirmed of external ocular infections were included.rnExternal ocular samples were collected using aseptic techniques. All samples were investigatedrnfor the presence of bacterial growth and bacteria were identified using gram stain, colonyrnmorphology, and disk sensitivity and biochemical tests. Drug susceptibility test was done usingrnthe Kirby-Bauer Disk diffusion method according to the guidelines of clinical and laboratoryrnstandard institute (CLSI).rnResult:In this study,the magnitudes of bacterial isolates were 175/323 (54.2%. The proportion ofrngram positive bacterial isilates was 171/184 (92.9%).Coagulase negative staphylococcirn(CoNS)76/184 (41.3%) were the predominant bacterial isolatefollowed by Staphylococcusrnaureus,Streptococcus Viridianand Klebsiella spp., 67/184 (36.4%),16/184 (8.7%) and 6/184rn(3.3%) respectively. The dominant clinical feature was Blepharitis accounting 122/323 (37.8%).rnGram positive bacterial isolates were susceptible to, Tobramycin, Gentamycin, chloramphenicol,rnVancomycin and ceftriaxone. However, 94.0% of these gram positive bacterial pathogensrnshowed resistance to penicillin. Multidrug resistance (MDR) were observed in gram positive andrngram negative bacteria isolates 136/184 (67.4%)and 12/13 (92.1%) respectively. rnConclusion:Blepharitis was the leadingEOI followed by conjunctivitis. The predominantrnbacteria species was CoNS followed byS. aureus. The higher prevalence of MDR 135/184rn(73.4%)and increasing of MRSA23/67 (34.3%)bacterial pathogens dictates the need forrncontinuous surveillance apart from routine antibiotic susceptibility testing.