Two-thirds of 30 European countries were routinely using whole genome sequencing in 2017 for national surveillance of at least one human pathogen, according to a survey.
This figure is up from 16 countries in 2016 and none in 2013.
A European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) report found 29 of the 30 countries…
Researchers in Finland have detailed an E. coli outbreak in 2016 with more than 230 cases linked to rocket salad, known as arugula salad by U.S. consumers.
In August 2016, an outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) with 237 cases occurred in the Helsinki area of Finland. Gastroenteritis cases…
An assessment of Listeria typing data reported by national public health reference laboratories has shown positive results.
The findings come from the fifth external quality assessment (EQA-5) scheme for typing of Listeria monocytogenes.
The test was organized for laboratories providing data to the Food- and Waterborne Diseases and Zoonoses Network (FWD-Net) managed by…
Implementing whole genome sequencing at the European level could save up to five months in detecting multi-country Listeria outbreaks, according to a recent study.
More than half of severe listeriosis cases in the European Union are part of clusters, many of which are not detected fast enough by the current surveillance system. The study, led…
The application of genomics is reducing the number of people who become ill from foodborne infections, according to Public Health England.
PHE made the comments in a paper on the transition to use of whole genome sequencing (WGS).
“The introduction of routine WGS has improved national and local surveillance, increased the number of outbreaks being…
The World Health Organization is encouraging all countries to look at how whole genome sequencing can be used to improve their foodborne disease surveillance and response system.
Used as part of such a system, whole genome sequencing (WGS) can increase the speed with which illnesses and food contamination are detected and the detail in which…
This was originally published Nov. 25 in the APHLTech Blog. In a prior APHLTech blog post (NGS in Action: FDA’s Genome TRAKR Network), Victor Waddell of the Arizona State Public Health Laboratory described the newly formed network of laboratories formed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Known collectively as Genome…
In 1993, 623 people in the western U.S. fell ill with a little-known bacteria called E. coli O157:H7. Ultimately, four children would die from their infections; many others suffered long-term medical complications. The bug was later traced to undercooked hamburger served at Jack in the Box restaurants. This outbreak thrust foodborne illness onto the national …
This week at the annual meeting of the Association of Public Health Laboratories in Seattle, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – which operates PulseNet – explained the crucial role this pathogen database plays in outbreak detection and the challenges that must be met in order for it to remain effective. …
An outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 went beyond New England over the weekend to cast a shadow over 12 states, including three that are very distant from the Northeast, where most of the illnesses and two deaths have occurred.
Lola Scott Russell, spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, said …
Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE) PFGE was developed in 1984 and has since become the gold standard for bacterial subtyping. PFGE is the primary subtyping method used by PulseNet, a network of public health laboratories that perform PFGE on foodborne disease organisms such as Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7, Shigella (11), Listeria monocytogenes (7), and Campylobacter jejuni…
