In 1996, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched PulseNet, a national network of laboratories, to help detect and define outbreaks using the DNA of the foodborne bacteria making people sick.

PulseNet uses DNA fingerprinting, or patterns of bacteria making people sick, to detect thousands of local and multistate outbreaks. Since the network began in 1996, PulseNet has improved our food safety systems through identifying outbreaks early. This allows investigators to find the source, alert the public sooner, and identify gaps in our food safety systems that would not otherwise be recognized.