{"id":11577,"date":"2024-07-24T16:43:37","date_gmt":"2024-07-24T20:43:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/?page_id=11577"},"modified":"2025-08-14T06:11:48","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T10:11:48","slug":"genomic-epidemiology","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/genomic-epidemiology\/","title":{"rendered":"Genomic Epidemiology"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\t

Genomic epidemiology is the process of monitoring the genetic makeup of pathogens (germs) that cause disease. This helps scientists understand how similar or different two or more pathogens are on a genetic level.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Epidemiologists at the Virginia Department of Health work with public health laboratory scientists<\/span> to monitor genomic data for pathogens that cause certain <\/span>reportable diseases<\/span><\/a>. Laboratory procedures called genomic sequencing help us do this. When two or more people are infected with closely related pathogens, this might mean that they shared a common exposure to that pathogen. This helps us detect outbreaks sooner and improves our public health responses to infectious diseases. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPublic Health Applications\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
\n
\n\t
    \n
  1. Early Outbreak Detection and Investigation. <\/span><\/b>Genomic data help detect disease outbreaks. If infecting pathogens are closely related, this suggests that cases are likely to be part of the same outbreak. Outbreak responses and investigations might begin earlier<\/span> using this information.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Identify Transmission Links. <\/span><\/b>Genomic data provide information about how similar or different infecting pathogens are. This can help public health understand if two or more cases of disease might share a common pathway of spread called a transmission link.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Identify or Confirm Sources of Exposure.<\/span><\/b> Genomic data provide detailed information about pathogens that are causing illness. If infecting pathogens are closely related, this suggests that cases might have shared a common source of exposure. This might include identifying a common food or environmental exposure that is making people sick.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Improve Understanding of Disease Location and Spatial Distribution.<\/span><\/b> Genomic data can provide important information about how diseases spread geographically. This can help link cases or outbreaks that occur in different locations.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

    \n\t\t\t\t\t\tInterested in Learning More?\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t\t
    <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>
    \n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t

    Genomic Sequencing<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t

    Genomic Epidemiology in Action<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t

    Additional Resources<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<\/span>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
    \n\t\t\t\t\t

    Contact Us<\/a><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\n\t<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Genomic epidemiology is the process of monitoring the genetic makeup of pathogens (germs) that cause disease. This helps scientists understand how similar or different two or more pathogens are on a genetic level.\u00a0\u00a0 Epidemiologists at the Virginia Department of Health work with public health laboratory scientists to monitor genomic data for pathogens that cause certain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11577","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nGenomic Epidemiology - Surveillance and Investigation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/genomic-surveillance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Genomic Epidemiology - Surveillance and Investigation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Genomic epidemiology is the process of monitoring the genetic makeup of pathogens (germs) that cause disease. This helps scientists understand how similar or different two or more pathogens are on a genetic level.\u00a0\u00a0 Epidemiologists at the Virginia Department of Health work with public health laboratory scientists to monitor genomic data for pathogens that cause certain […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/genomic-surveillance\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Surveillance and Investigation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-08-14T10:11:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/surveillance-and-investigation\\\/genomic-surveillance\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/surveillance-and-investigation\\\/genomic-surveillance\\\/\",\"name\":\"Genomic Epidemiology - Surveillance and Investigation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/surveillance-and-investigation\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-07-24T20:43:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-08-14T10:11:48+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/surveillance-and-investigation\\\/genomic-surveillance\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/surveillance-and-investigation\\\/genomic-surveillance\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/surveillance-and-investigation\\\/genomic-surveillance\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/surveillance-and-investigation\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Genomic Surveillance\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/surveillance-and-investigation\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/surveillance-and-investigation\\\/\",\"name\":\"Surveillance and Investigation\",\"description\":\"To promote and protect the health of all Virginians\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/surveillance-and-investigation\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Genomic Epidemiology - Surveillance and Investigation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/genomic-surveillance\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Genomic Epidemiology - Surveillance and Investigation","og_description":"Genomic epidemiology is the process of monitoring the genetic makeup of pathogens (germs) that cause disease. This helps scientists understand how similar or different two or more pathogens are on a genetic level.\u00a0\u00a0 Epidemiologists at the Virginia Department of Health work with public health laboratory scientists to monitor genomic data for pathogens that cause certain […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/genomic-surveillance\/","og_site_name":"Surveillance and Investigation","article_modified_time":"2025-08-14T10:11:48+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/genomic-surveillance\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/genomic-surveillance\/","name":"Genomic Epidemiology - Surveillance and Investigation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-07-24T20:43:37+00:00","dateModified":"2025-08-14T10:11:48+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/genomic-surveillance\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/genomic-surveillance\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/genomic-surveillance\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Genomic Surveillance"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/","name":"Surveillance and Investigation","description":"To promote and protect the health of all Virginians","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11577"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11937,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11577\/revisions\/11937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/surveillance-and-investigation\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}