Tracking foodborne outbreaks with whole genome sequencing

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has expanded the use of
whole genome sequencing to track foodborne illness caused by Listeria,
Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli to 38 states and two cities and will be
reporting this information on their Antibiotic Resistance Investment Map. The
CDC has been using whole genome sequencing since 2013 to originally track
Listeria outbreaks in a pilot project which has been successful in identify new food sources and more instances of Listeria outbreaks. The uses of whole genome
sequencing to track Salmonella, Campylobacter and E. coli outbreaks are relatively
new being only implemented in some state in 2017. However, from the whole
genome sequencing pilot project tracking Listeria the CDC was able to rapidly
identify the strain of bacteria causing the Listeria outbreaks as well as track the
spread by linking patients with the same strain of bacteria together. Once the
specific strain is identified, the CDC was in a position to use this information to
identify possible food sources and prevent the spread of Listeria by locating its
origin.

See here for the CDC announcement, here for how the CDC uses of whole
genome sequencing, and here for the Listeria Whole Sequencing Project.


-Kristen Tuosto