Abstract
Between 2017 and 2019, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was replaced by whole genome sequencing (WGS) for identifying enteric disease clusters in Canada. The number and characteristics of all clusters of Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC), and Shigella spp. between 2015 and 2021 were analyzed. Following the transition to WGS, an increase in the number of Salmonella, STEC, and Shigella clusters was noted, whereas the number of clusters of L. monocytogenes decreased. Unlike previ ous subtyping methods, WGS provided increased resolution to identify discrete clusters of Salmonella Enteritidis. This led to the identification of a number of outbreaks linked to frozen raw breaded chicken prod ucts and ultimately a change in food safety policy to reduce the number of illnesses associated with these products. Other pathogens did not experience a similar increase in the number of outbreaks detected. Although WGS did provide increased confidence in the genetic relatedness of cases and isolates, challenges remained in collecting epidemiological data to link these illnesses to a common source. Keywords: foodborne illness, whole genome sequencing, Listeria, Salmonella, STEC, Shigella
Showing the abstract — retrieve the full paper via the Exa API.