Abstract: Objective To understand pathogen characteristics of foodborne diseases in Ji'nan City from 2013 to 2016, and to provide basis for prevention and control of foodborne diseases. Methods A total of 1 730 cases of specimens from two foodborne sentinel hospitals in Ji'nan City during 2013-2016 were collected and tested. Results The positive detection rate of foodborne diseases was 37.34%. Among these, the positive rate of bacterial infection was 19.31%, and the main bacterial pathogen was EAEC. The positive rate of virus infection was 14.05%, and the main viral pathogen was GⅡ. Besides, the positive rate of multiple infections was 3.99%. The detection rates of pathogens in years (χ²=33.19,P<0.001) and genders(χ²=12.09,P=0.001)were statistically different.Virus infection was mainly in winter and bacterial infection was mainly in summer. The age distribution of positive cases was the highest in 18-35 years age group, accounting for 50.00%. The top three of suspected exposure foods were dairy products(accounting for 18.89%),meat products(accounting for 17.49%)and sea food (accounting for 13.62).Suspected exposed foods causing multiple infections were mainly meat products(17.39%)and sea food(17.39%). Conclusions The main pathogens of them were EAEC in summer and autumn and norovirus GⅡ was in winter. These results suggested that the appropriate foodborne disease prevention and control measures should be developed based on different seasons and pathogenic factors, according to different characteristics of exposed people and exposed food.