The use of whole genome sequencing to solve an epidemiological puzzle

With full genome sequencing of bacterial genomes becoming more affordable, the number of publications, which deploy this elegant and modern technique is rapidly increasing. Full genome sequences of hundreds of bacterial strains have been determined and described. However, on reading some of the literature, sometimes one wonders if the use of this method with enormous resolving power is really ‘balanced’ or justified by the specific questions that are being addressed. Or – to put it differently – what exactly were the specific questions for which sequencing was supposed to provide the answer is sometimes unclear.The paper by Harrison et al. in this issue, poses such specific questions by applying whole genome sequencing (WGS) to resolve an epidemiological puzzle that involves zoonotic transmission of a methicillin‐resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) clone in two farms located in Denmark (Harrison et al, 2013).In both farms the outbreak of …