Epidemiologic data and pathogen genome sequences: a powerful synergy for public health

Table 1 Example of a line list

	Demographic information			Clinical data				Diagnostic data			Exposure data
Case identifier	Age	Gender	Home location	Presenting symptoms	Date of onset	Underlying medical conditions	Clinical outcome	Specimen type	Diagnostic test	Result	Contacts^b	Exposure^c
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Line lists are used in epidemiological investigations. The data fields here are examples of the types of information collected from each case. The fields are adjusted on the basis of the specific disease or syndrome under investigation. As sequencing of microbiological samples becomes part of routine clinical and public health microbiology practice, microbial sequence will become part of the line list data. ^aLongitudinal time points, deep-sequencing, single colony, multiple colonies, and so on; ^bfor example, for communicable disease; ^cfor example, foods eaten for food-borne outbreak.

ISSN: 1474-760X