Collection and Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) of isolates of food-borne pathogens associated with food-borne outbreaks
Article 1
1. The competent authority responsible for the investigation of food-borne outbreaks pursuant to Article 8 of Directive 2003/99/EC shall collect, without undue delay, isolates of Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes , Escherichia coli , Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli , where those pathogens are associated or suspected to be associated with a food-borne outbreak, based on the available analytical or epidemiological information, in the Member State of that competent authority or in another Member State and they were derived from samples taken from the suspected food, animals, feed or the related environment during foodborne outbreak investigations. 2. The competent authority shall carry out WGS on at least one isolate of each serovar, biotype or molecular type of the collected isolates referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article in an official laboratory which is referred to in Article 37 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 5 ) and which is accredited for this method according to ISO 17025. 3. Where available, food and feed business operators shall submit to the competent authority, upon its request, the isolates of the pathogens referred to in paragraph 1 and the related results from WGS from their own investigations when associated or suspected to be associated with an outbreak, together with the associated data referred to in Article 2(2).