The Role, Challenges, and Support of Pulse Net Laboratories in Detecting Foodborne Disease Outbreaks

In recent years, there have been several high-profile nationwide foodborne outbreaks due to enteric organisms in food products, including Salmonella Typhimurium in peanut products, Salmonella Saintpaul in peppers, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in spinach. Pulse Net, the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance, played a key role in detecting each of these outbreaks. PulseNet laboratories use bacterial subtyping methods to rapidly detect clusters of foodborne disease, which are often the first indication that an outbreak is occurring. Rapid outbreak detection reduces ongoing transmission through product recalls, restaurant closures, and other mechanisms. By greatly increasing the sensitivity of outbreak detection, Pulse Net allows us to identify and correct problems with our food production and distribution systems that would not otherwise have come to our attention. Annually, millions of potentially preventable cases of foodborne illness result in billions of dollars in lost productivity and health-care expenses. We describe the critical role Pulse Net laboratories play in the detection of foodborne outbreaks and discuss current challenges and potential improvements for Pulse Net laboratories to more rapidly identify future foodborne outbreaks.