Objective To study the epidemiologic and etiologic characteristics of Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio parahemolyticus, diarrheagenic Escherichia coli(DEC) from foodborne diarrhea patients in Baiyin. Methods Stool samples were collected from foodborne disease patients in Baiyin during 2016-2018 and pathogenic bacteria strains were isolated and identified by biochemical characteristics, serotyping, drug resistance test and pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). Results A total of 300 strains were isolated from 1 003 stool samples, the overall positive rate was 29.9% and the positive rate of DEC was the highest (29.1%, 292/1 003), followed by that of Salmonella and Shigella, and Vibrio parahemolyticus were not detected. Totally 1 003 foodborne disease cases were reported and the ratio of male and female was 1.3∶1, the detection rate of pathogenic bacteria in female patients(31.8%,136/428) was higher than male patients (28.5%,164/575),the patients were mainly adults aged 19-59 years and young children under 5 years old, and the positive rate was 31.5%(76/241)and 30.6%(188/615).Pathogenic bacteria strains were isolated mainly in the second and third quarter of the year. PFGE result indicated that 7 isolates belonged to 6 types, and there was one aggregation phenomenon. Salmonella had high resistant rate to tetracycline (85.7%, 6/7), it was found that 6 strains were multi-drug resistant. Shigella flexneri 2a subtype was resistant to 7 drug. 292 strains of DEC were sensitive to imipenem, and the drug sensitive rates of ceftazidime, cefoxitin, chloramphenicol and ciprofloxacin were greater than 80%, the resistance rate to ampicillin was the highest(80.8%,236/292), the multi-resistance to three or more antibiotics was 75.3%(220/292). Conclusion In the active etiological surveillance for foodborne diseases in Baiyin during 2016-2018, the detection rate of DEC was the highest. Pathogenic bacteria strains were isolated mainly in adults aged 19-59 years. The season specific characteristics of pathogenic bacteria was observed, and the infections mainly occurred in the second and third season. Multidrug resistance of pathogenic bacteria strains was serious with broad-spectrum.