Infection with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food and the Effect of Increasing Use of Culture-Independent Diagnostic Tests on Surveillance - Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, 10 US Sites, 2012-2015

What is already known about this topic? The incidence of infections transmitted commonly by food has remained largely unchanged for many years. Multifaceted approaches involving public health, regulatory agencies, industry, and consumers are required to reduce the incidence. What is added by this report? Compared with average incidence in 2012-2014, in 2015, the incidence of Cryptosporidium and non-O157 STEC infections was higher and might, in part, be caused by the use of culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs), which more than doubled during the comparison period. What are the implications for public health practice? Some information about the bacteria causing infections, such as subtype and antimicrobial susceptibility, can only be obtained if a CIDT‐positive specimen is also cultured. Increasing use of CIDTs affects the interpretation of public health surveillance data and the ability to monitor progress towards prevention efforts. Currently, reflex culturing of specimens with positive CIDT reports should be considered for bacterial pathogens to obtain isolates needed for public health practice. In the long term, expedited research and development are needed to create methods to detect the genetic sequences of pathogens directly and rapidly from stool specimens, which could also benefit clinical and public health practice because subtype, resistance profile, and other features can be obtained from the genetic sequence. © 2016, Department of Health and Human Services. All rights reserved.