PulseNet is a network run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which brings together public health and food regulatory agency laboratories around the United States.
For example, if an outbreak of E. coli occurred in two distant parts of the country, PulseNet might help prove a link between the two.
Due to the success of Pulsenet USA since its inception in 1996, similar networks have been established internationally in Canada (2000), the Asia Pacific (2002), Europe (2003),[2] Latin America (2003),[3] and the Middle East (2006).
[4] PulseNet participants use the BioNumerics software suite for database maintenance, tiff image normalization, and analysis and pattern comparisons.
[5] The objectives of PulseNet International are to perform molecular surveillance of foodborne diseases at the global level in order to facilitate international outbreak detection and investigation by partnering with public health laboratories throughout the world and by building capacity for molecular surveillance of foodborne pathogens.