Subtopic Deep Dive

Epidemiology of Listeria Foodborne Outbreaks
Research Guide

What is Epidemiology of Listeria Foodborne Outbreaks?

Epidemiology of Listeria foodborne outbreaks studies the incidence, distribution, and control of Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to contaminated food using molecular subtyping and case-control methods.

Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) standardized by Graves and Swaminathan (2001) enables strain tracking in outbreaks (551 citations). Whole-genome sequencing advances population biology as shown by Moura et al. (2016, 665 citations). Case-control studies reveal risk factors and trends from historical data (Bean and Griffin, 1990, 529 citations). Over 10 key papers span 1990-2017.

Curated Papers

Key Challenges

Why It Matters

Rapid strain subtyping via PulseNet detects outbreaks early, preventing recalls and deaths as established by Swaminathan et al. (2001, 857 citations). Identifying risk factors in ready-to-eat foods guides industry controls (Skjerdal et al., 2017, 1182 citations). Evolutionary tracking by Ragon et al. (2008, 577 citations) informs persistent strain sources, reducing listeriosis mortality noted by Farber and Peterkin (1991, 2405 citations).

Key Research Challenges

Strain Subtyping Resolution

PFGE distinguishes outbreak strains but lacks whole-genome precision (Graves and Swaminathan, 2001, 551 citations). Transition to sequencing faces standardization gaps (Moura et al., 2016). Data sharing across labs remains inconsistent.

Risk Factor Identification

Case-control studies struggle with recall bias in sporadic cases (Bean and Griffin, 1990). Contaminated food vehicles evolve with processing changes (Skjerdal et al., 2017). Vulnerable populations like neonates complicate trends.

Real-Time Surveillance

PulseNet networks delay response despite molecular advances (Swaminathan et al., 2001). Integrating WGS into routine epidemiology lags (Moura et al., 2016). Global harmonization hinders cross-border tracking.

Essential Papers

Listeria monocytogenes, a food-borne pathogen

Jeffrey M. Farber, Pearl I. Peterkin · 1991 · Microbiological Reviews · 2.4K citations

The gram-positive bacterium Listeria monocytogenes is an ubiquitous, intracellular pathogen which has been implicated within the past decade as the causative organism in several outbreaks of foodbo...

The STARTEC Decision Support Tool for Better Tradeoffs between Food Safety, Quality, Nutrition, and Costs in Production of Advanced Ready-to-Eat Foods

Taran Skjerdal, Andras Gefferth, Miroslav Spajic et al. · 2017 · BioMed Research International · 1.2K citations

A prototype decision support IT-tool for the food industry was developed in the STARTEC project. Typical processes and decision steps were mapped using real life production scenarios of participati...

Rapid methods for the detection of foodborne bacterial pathogens: principles, applications, advantages and limitations

Jodi Woan‐Fei Law, Nurul‐Syakima Ab Mutalib, Kok‐Gan Chan et al. · 2015 · Frontiers in Microbiology · 1.2K citations

The incidence of foodborne diseases has increased over the years and resulted in major public health problem globally. Foodborne pathogens can be found in various foods and it is important to detec...

<i>Campylobacter jejuni—</i>An Emerging Foodborne Pathogen

Sean F. Altekruse, Norman J. Stern, Patricia I. Fields et al. · 1999 · Emerging infectious diseases · 877 citations

Campylobacter jejuni is the most commonly reported bacterial cause of foodborne infection in the United States. Adding to the human and economic costs are chronic sequelae associated with C. jejuni...

PulseNet: The Molecular Subtyping Network for Foodborne Bacterial Disease Surveillance, United States

Bala Swaminathan, Timothy J. Barrett, Susan B. Hunter et al. · 2001 · Emerging infectious diseases · 857 citations

PulseNet, the national molecular subtyping network for foodborne disease surveillance, was established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and several state health department laborato...

Foodborne pathogens

Thomas Bintsis · 2017 · AIMS Microbiology · 817 citations

Foodborne pathogens are causing a great number of diseases with significant effects on human health and economy. The characteristics of the most common pathogenic bacteria (<i>Bacillus cereus</i>, ...

Whole genome-based population biology and epidemiological surveillance of Listeria monocytogenes

Alexandra Moura, Alexis Criscuolo, Hannes Pouseele et al. · 2016 · Nature Microbiology · 665 citations

Reading Guide

Foundational Papers

Start with Farber and Peterkin (1991, 2405 citations) for listeriosis basics; Swaminathan et al. (2001, 857 citations) PulseNet; Graves and Swaminathan (2001, 551 citations) PFGE protocol—these establish subtyping standards.

Recent Advances

Moura et al. (2016, 665 citations) for WGS surveillance; Skjerdal et al. (2017, 1182 citations) ready-to-eat controls; Ragon et al. (2008, 577 citations) evolution context.

Core Methods

PFGE macrorestriction (Graves 2001); WGS population analysis (Moura 2016); PulseNet networking (Swaminathan 2001); case-control trends (Bean 1990).

How PapersFlow Helps You Research Epidemiology of Listeria Foodborne Outbreaks

Discover & Search

Research Agent uses searchPapers for 'Listeria monocytogenes PFGE outbreaks' yielding Graves and Swaminathan (2001); citationGraph reveals PulseNet connections to Swaminathan et al. (2001); findSimilarPapers expands to Moura et al. (2016) WGS epidemiology; exaSearch uncovers case studies.

Analyze & Verify

Analysis Agent applies readPaperContent to parse Moura et al. (2016) genomes; verifyResponse with CoVe cross-checks strain clustering claims; runPythonAnalysis computes PFGE vs. WGS similarity matrices from Graves and Swaminathan (2001) data using pandas; GRADE grades evidence strength for outbreak attribution.

Synthesize & Write

Synthesis Agent detects gaps in PFGE-to-WGS transitions from Ragon et al. (2008); Writing Agent uses latexEditText for methods sections, latexSyncCitations for Farber and Peterkin (1991), latexCompile for reports; exportMermaid diagrams PulseNet workflows.

Use Cases

"Analyze PFGE patterns in recent Listeria outbreaks vs. historical data"

Research Agent → searchPapers → Analysis Agent → runPythonAnalysis (pandas dendrogram of Graves 2001 + Moura 2016 strains) → matplotlib outbreak tree plot.

"Write LaTeX review on Listeria epidemiology trends 1990-2020"

Research Agent → citationGraph → Synthesis Agent → gap detection → Writing Agent → latexSyncCitations (Farber 1991, Swaminathan 2001) → latexCompile → PDF with incidence graphs.

"Find code for Listeria WGS outbreak analysis"

Research Agent → paperExtractUrls (Moura 2016) → Code Discovery → paperFindGithubRepo → githubRepoInspect → Python scripts for cgMLST clustering.

Automated Workflows

Deep Research workflow scans 50+ Listeria papers via searchPapers, structures epidemiology report with incidence trends from Bean and Griffin (1990). DeepScan's 7-step chain verifies PFGE protocols (Graves 2001) with CoVe checkpoints and runPythonAnalysis. Theorizer generates hypotheses on persistent strains from Ragon et al. (2008) evolution data.

Try Doxa for Epidemiology of Listeria Foodborne Outbreaks Research

Frequently Asked Questions

What defines Listeria outbreak epidemiology?

It tracks incidence, strains, and sources using PFGE (Graves and Swaminathan, 2001) and WGS (Moura et al., 2016).

What are main methods?

PulseNet PFGE subtyping (Swaminathan et al., 2001); whole-genome surveillance; case-control risk studies (Bean and Griffin, 1990).

What are key papers?

Farber and Peterkin (1991, 2405 citations) on pathogen basics; Graves and Swaminathan (2001, 551 citations) PFGE protocol; Moura et al. (2016, 665 citations) WGS.