Technical report by ECDC on the monitoring the use of the whole genome-sequencing in infectious disease surveillance in Europe (2015-2017)

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has recently published a technical report regarding the Monitoring the use of the whole genome-sequencing in infectious disease surveillance in Europe (2015-2017).

The results of the survey presented in this report showed that by mid-2017 the vast majority of national public health reference laboratories in EU/EEA countries had access to whole genome sequencing based typing of diverse microbial pathogens for investigations of infection and drug resistance transmission.

Whole-genome sequencing (WGS) provides higher resolution and accuracy than classical molecular typing methods contributing to a better understanding of infectious disease and drug resistance transmission patterns and thereby improving the effectiveness of interventions for their control.

Despite these advantages, challenges with the costs and lack of expertise may limit its use by public health laboratories

Reference

https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/monitoring-use-whole-genome-sequencing-infectious-disease-surveillance-europe