MPH’s Schaffner: “Molecular fingerprints” used in latest Listeria outbreak to find origin
A massive voluntary recall of multiple food items that was implemented after a relatively small listeria outbreak has highlighted how epidemiologists are now using DNA to connect seemingly unrelated infections and improve food safety, according to food safety experts. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, said the introduction of whole genome testing of bacteria and other infectious disease has allowed experts to identify "molecular fingerprints" in their database that help them determine the origin of an outbreak.