A multinational listeriosis outbreak and the importance of sharing genomic data

Our globalised food supply presents immense challenges to ensuring food safety, as shown by outbreaks of foodborne illnesses associated with imported foods.1 The speed with which such outbreaks are resolved often depends on how rapidly public health scientists communicate and disseminate actionable data. One such data source is whole-genome sequencing, which is the newest method of molecular subtyping and has superior discriminatory power compared with previous methods.2 Consequently, whole-genome sequencing has been and continues to be adopted by countries across the world as a tool to combat foodborne pathogens.