Infectious Disease Surveillance and One Health

Salmonella Typhimurium surveillance in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

Project Summary

Salmonella is an important foodborne pathogen in Australia and is responsible for significant levels of disease and is an important economic burden. Public health investigation of Salmonella cases aims to identify the source of infections so that effective interventions can reduce the burden of disease. In ACT S. Typhimurium is thought to account for approximately 60 % of all Salmonella notifications.

This project is a pilot to determine the utility of using WGS for surveillance purposes of S. Typhimurium by ACT Health and for data sharing and analysis between different Australian health jurisdictions.

The aims of the project are to (1) Use WGS to characterise all S. Typhimurium isolates collected between Jan and May 2016 and (2) to establish infrastructure to facilitate data sharing and combined analysis between different public health institutions.

Project Partners

ACT Health, ACT, Australia

Institute for Clinical Pathology and Medical Research (ICPMR), NSW, Australia

Publications

Incorporating Whole-Genome Sequencing into Public Health Surveillance: Lessons from Prospective Sequencing of Salmonella Typhimurium in Australia

Ford L, Carter GP, Wang Q, Seemann T, Sintchenko V, Glass K, Williamson DA, Howard P, Valcanis M, Castillo CFS, Sait M, Howden BP, Kirk MD. Foodborne Pathog Dis. 2018