National molecular tracing network for foodborne disease surveillance in China

To improve the early detection of geographically dispersed common-source foodborne outbreaks, a national foodborne disease molecular tracing network (TraNet) was launched in 2013 based on the existing laboratory-based foodborne disease surveillance system in China. TraNet consists of 32 provincial and many municipal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that conduct molecular subtyping using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) on foodborne pathogens submitted by sentinel hospitals within their jurisdictions, and submit these PFGE profiles to a national database for further analysis. Currently, TraNet plays a significant role in the identification of etiologic causes and tracks contaminated food during foodborne outbreaks.