Each year, one out of six American are thought to become sick with a foodborne illness, and 3,000 die.” By this measure, foodborne illnesses are quite common, hence emphasis is being placed on prevention and surveillance. A national network of public-health and food-regulatory agency laboratories coordinated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been developed. All collaborators perform standardized molecular fingerprinting of foodborne-disease-causing microorganisms by pulse field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).