title: 'Next-Generation' Surveillance: An Epidemiologists' Perspective on the Use of Molecular Information in Food Safety and Animal Health Decision-Making.
abstract: Advances in the availability and affordability of molecular and genomic data are transforming human health care. Surveillance aimed at supporting and improving food safety and animal health is likely to undergo a similar transformation. We propose a definition of 'molecular surveillance' in this context and argue that molecular data are an adjunct to rather than a substitute for sound epidemiological study and surveillance design. Specific considerations with regard to sample collection are raised, as is the importance of the relation between the molecular clock speed of genetic markers and the spatiotemporal scale of the surveillance activity, which can be control- or strategy-focused. Development of standards for study design and assessment of molecular surveillance system attributes is needed, together with development of an interdisciplinary skills base covering both molecular and epidemiological principles.
authors.affiliation: Epi-interactive, Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand.|Epi-interactive, Eppingen, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Muellner
authors.affiliation: Royal Veterinary College, North Mymms, UK.|SAFOSO AG, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: K D C
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Stärk
authors.affiliation: Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal, St-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada.|Canadian Bovine Mastitis Research Network, St-Hyacinthe, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dufour
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Zadoks
mesh_terms: D000820:Animal Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000818:Animals; D003657:Decision Making; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control; D005516:Food Microbiology; D059022:Food Safety; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance
keywords: Epidemiology; foodborne infection; molecular methods; surveillance; zoonosis