Foodborne illness is a common occurrence. It is estimated that one in six Americans get sick from contaminated food or beverages annually and 3,000 die from it. The USDA estimates that foodborne illnesses cost the United States more than $15.6 billion each year and the irony is that such illnesses are preventable.
PulseNet compares the DNA fingerprints of bacteria from patients to find clusters of disease that represent unrecognized outbreaks
The CDC (Center for Disease Control), a vital link between foodborne illness and the food safety systems of food producers and government agencies, helps to determine the major sources of an outbreak and provides guidance when an outbreak occurs. Using surveillance systems like PulseNet,FoodNet(the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network), SEDRIC(the System for Enteric Disease Response, Investigation and Coordination), they can help state and local health departments improve the tracking and investigation of outbreaks.
Using WGS, scientists can generate a DNA fingerprint to determine if strains of bacteria have similar DNA fingerprints that would point to the outbreak coming from the same source or processing facility
Using Advanced Technology like WGS (Whole Genome Sequencing), scientists can generate a DNA fingerprint to determine if strains of bacteria have similar DNA fingerprints that would point to the outbreak coming from the same source or processing facility. The CDC began using WGS to investigate foodborne illness in 2013 with Listeria – a bacteria that those of us in the food industry are very familiar with. Today, 83 laboratories across the USA have such tools and can generate and share WGS results. For example, WGS helped the CDC and FDA scientists link the outbreak in 2019 of E. coli to romaine lettuce from Salinas Valley, CA and there are many such successes. Genome Trakr is a database of foodborne bacteria that is managed by the FDA and focuses on germs from food products and the environment.
Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) Process
Whole Genome Sequencing gives detailed genetic information about the germs making people sick. CDC’s Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases uses this info to help investigate and prevent illnesses caused by bacteria, fungi and parasites. It’s of particular importance when looking for the source of an outbreak and determining the drug resistance (to antibiotics) of bacteria or fungi, thus enabling us to know which antibiotics to use or not use to fight infections.
Just like humans, germs have their own DNA and WGS provides “a nearly complete reading of the millions of units that make up the germ’s DNA. By knowing what order these units are in, scientists can identify the type of germ and learn more about its genes, including the genes that cause antimicrobial resistance. This detailed information allows outbreak investigators to link cases of illness and find sources of infection with greater confidence than with other DNA fingerprinting methods.”
This advanced technology is a big plus in tracking, classifying and stopping outbreaks of foodborne, waterborne and environmental illnesses today.
Lily Noon
Sources:
Center for Disease Control and Prevention – Whole Genome Sequencing, CDC.gov
CDC and Food Safety – Center for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC.gov
米国の疾病予防管理センター（CDC）は、食中毒と食品生産者の食品安全性システム、および政府機関の間の重要な要として機能していて、大量発生の主な感染源の解明を支援すると同時に、大量発生に際してガイダンスを提供しています。PulseNet、FoodNet（Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network、食中毒の能動監視ネットワーク）、SEDRIC（System for Enteric Disease Response, Investigation and Coordination、腸疾患の対応・調査・調整のためのシステム）のようなシステムを使用して、CDCは、州や自治体の保健当局が大量発生の追跡・調査能力を向上できるようサポートしています。
