Disease Control and Prevention

Part of the Milam County Health Department's responsibility is to monitor, track, control and/or prevent the spread of disease in our community.  The diseases in the table below should be reported to the Milam County Health Department.

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Who, What, Where, When and Why of Disease Reporting

 

What is disease reporting?

The process of letting the state know of diseases and conditions in a local area.  Reporting can be either passive or active. Passive reporting occurs when we are called with a report.  Active is when we contact a hospital or clinic looking for reports.  You may also use symdromic surveillance, which is collecting information on symptoms or drug usage instead of a specific disease.

 

Why do we report diseases and conditions?

To establish disease patterns and to stop potentially dangerous disease outbreaks from occurring.  Also certain diseases and conditions are tracked by the state to determine if new or different vaccines or research are required.

 

Who reports disease and condition?

Any person with knowledge of a disease, but mainly hospitals, clinics and schools.

When do we report?

Follow the Texas Notifiable Conditions list.  This list is updated regularly and can be found by clicking here or see below.

 

Where do we report?  Click here to report to the Milam County Health Department by e-mail.

Doctors and nurses will report to their local health department or to the regional health department if they do not have a local.  Health Departments report to the state through the National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS).  Some conditions also require further reporting to disease specific areas such as zoonosis.  To report a disease by phone please call (254)697-7039.

 

HIPAA: Patient Rights and Disease Reporting

As a health department, we are allowed certain privileges under HIPAA.  We can collect reports without the patients consent as long as we are using them to comply with state reporting guidelines.  Once we have the report we are then bound by the same HIPAA laws as healthcare.

 

For more information on these and many other diseases, please visit www.cdc.gov.

Notifiable Conditions

¹ Please refer to specific rules and regulations for reporting and who to report to at: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/hivstd/reporting/default.shtm
² Labs conducting confirmatory HIV testing are requested to send remaining specimen to a CDC-designated laboratory. Please call 512-533-3041 for details.
³ Reporting forms are available at: http//www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/investigation/forms. Investigation forms at: http//www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/investigation/. Call as indicated for immediately reportable conditions.
⁴ Lab isolate must be sent to DSHS lab. Call 512-458-7598 for specimen submission information
⁵ Reportable Arbovirus infections include neuroinvasive and non-neuroinvasive California serogroup, Eastern Equine (EEE), Dengue, Powassan, St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE), West Nile, and Western Equine (WEE)
⁶ Please refer to specific rules and regulations for reporting and who to report to at: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/epitox/default.shtm
⁷ Please refer to specific rules and regulations for reporting and who to report to at: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/tcr/lawrules.shtm
⁸ Varicella reporting form is at: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/health/vaccine_preventable_diseases/forms/f11_11046.pdf. Call local health dept for copy with their fax number.
⁹ Not applicable to private facilities. Initial reporting forms for Contaminated Sharps at: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/health/bloodborne_pathogens/reporting/
¹⁰ Contact local poison center at 1-800-222-1222. For instructions, forms, and fax numbers see:http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/epidemiology/epipoison.shtm
¹¹ Please refer to specific rules and regulations for reporting and who to report to at: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/injury/default.shtm
¹² M.TB complex includes M.tuberculosis, m.bovis, and m.africanum. Please refer to specific rules and regulations for reporting and who to report to at http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/idcu/disease/tb/