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Review
. 2016 Aug;54(8):1975-83.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.00081-16. Epub 2016 Mar 23.

Practical Value of Food Pathogen Traceability through Building a Whole-Genome Sequencing Network and Database

Marc W Allard  1 , Errol Strain  2 , David Melka  2 , Kelly Bunning  2 , Steven M Musser  2 , Eric W Brown  2 , Ruth Timme  2
Affiliations
Review

Practical Value of Food Pathogen Traceability through Building a Whole-Genome Sequencing Network and Database

Marc W Allard et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2016 Aug.

Abstract

The FDA has created a United States-based open-source whole-genome sequencing network of state, federal, international, and commercial partners. The GenomeTrakr network represents a first-of-its-kind distributed genomic food shield for characterizing and tracing foodborne outbreak pathogens back to their sources. The GenomeTrakr network is leading investigations of outbreaks of foodborne illnesses and compliance actions with more accurate and rapid recalls of contaminated foods as well as more effective monitoring of preventive controls for food manufacturing environments. An expanded network would serve to provide an international rapid surveillance system for pathogen traceback, which is critical to support an effective public health response to bacterial outbreaks.

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Figures

FIG 1
FIG 1
Data flow for the GenomeTrakr database and network.
FIG 2
FIG 2
Growth of GenomeTrakr database.
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See this image and copyright information in PMC

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