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Joan Stephenson, PhD

JAMA. 1998;279:1857.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

A new national computer network linking public health laboratories is expected to help epidemiologists identify potentially serious outbreaks of foodborne infection and trace their source.

The system, dubbed "PulseNet," uses a technique called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, which allows scientists to create a distinctive DNA fingerprint for the infectious agent causing the outbreak. Subtle differences in these molecular fingerprints make it possible to determine whether cases of illness caused by a pathogen such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 can be traced to the same contaminated food source.

Under the new networked computer system launched in late May, public health laboratories in 16 states can create molecular fingerprints of pathogens associated with foodborne illnesses in their regions and share that information with other laboratories in the network via the Internet. Public health laboratories in the remaining states will be linked with the system by 1999.

FoodNet, a forerunner of PulseNet . . . [Full Text of this Article]