Today, together with the European Food Safety Authority, the Commission has published Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the use of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) within the framework of foodborne outbreak investigations. These FAQs explain how Member States should implement Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2025/179 on this issue, published on 3 February 2025.
Performing WGS on 5 major foodborne pathogens (e.g. Salmonella) associated or suspected to be associated with a foodborne outbreak become mandatory and results have to be submitted to the EFSA WGS system. The EFSA WGS system is interconnected with a similar data base of human isolates following a One Health approach, managed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). Human and food isolates can be compared, facilitating the swift identification of cause of a foodborne outbreak thanks to this collaboration between public health and food safety authorities.
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