Milam County Health Department

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

 

A - L When to Report L - Y When to Report
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)1,2 Within 1 week Leishmaniasis3 Within 1 week
Amebiasis3 Within 1 week Listeriosis3,4 Within 1 week
Anthrax3,4 Call immediately Lyme disease3 Within 1 week
Arbovirus infection3,5 Within 1 week Malaria3 Within 1 week
Asbestosis6 Within 1 week Measles (rubeola)3 Call Immediately
Botulism, foodborne3,4 Call immediately Meningitis (specify type)3 Within 1 week
Botulism, infant, wound, and other3,4 Within 1 week Meningococcal infections, invasive3,4 Call Immediately
Brucellosis3,4 Within 1 work day Mumps3 Within 1 week
Campylobacteriosis3 Within 1 week Pertussis3 Within 1 work day
Cancer7 See rules7 Pesticide poisoning,acute occupatonal6 Within 1 week
Chancroid1 Within 1 week Plague (Yersinia pestis)3,4 Call immediately
Chickenpox (varicella)8 Within 1 week Poliomyelitis, acute parlytic3 Call immediately
Chlamydia trachomitis infection 1 Within 1 week Q fever3 Within 1 work day
Contaminated sharps injury 9 Within 1 month Rabies, human3 Call immediately
Controlled substance overdose10 Call immediately10 Relapsing fever3 Within 1 week
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) 3 Within 1 week Rubella (including congenital) 3 Within 1 work day
Cryptosporidiosis3 Within 1 week Salmonellosis, including typhoid fever3 Within 1 week
Cyclosporiasis3 Within 1 week Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)3 Call immediately
Cysticercosis3 Within 1 week Shigellosis3 Within 1 week
Dengue3 Within 1 week Silicosis 6 Within 1 week
Diphtheria3 Call immediately Smallpox3 Call immediately
Drowning/near drowning 11 Within 10 work days Spinal cord injury11 Within 10 work days
Ehrlichiosis 3 Within 1 week Spotted fever group rickettsioses 3 Within 1 week
Encephalitis (specify etiology)3 Within 1 week Staph. aureus, vancomycin-resistant (VISA and VRSA)3,4 Call immediately
Escherichia coli, enterohemorrhagic 3,4 Within 1 week Streptococcal disease (group A, B, S. pneumo), invasive3 Within 1 week
Gonorrhea 1 Within 1 week Syphilis1 Within 1 week
Haemophilus influenzaetybe b infections, invasive3 Call immediately Taenia solium and undifferentiated Taenia infection3 Within 1 week
Hansen's disease (leprosy)3 Within 1 week Tetanus3 Within 1 week
Hantavirus infection 3 Within 1 week Traumatic brain injury11 Within 10 work days
Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)3 Within 1 week Trichinosis Within 1 week
Hepatitis A (acute)3 Within 1 work day Tuberculosis (includes all M. tuberculosis complex)4,12 Within 1 work day
Hepatitis B, C, D, E, and unspecified (acute)3 Within 1 week Tularemia 3,4 Call immediately
Hepatitis B identified prenatally or at delivery (acute & chronic)3 Within 1 week Typhus3 Within 1 week
Hepatitis B, preinatal (HBsAg+<24 months old) 3 Within 1 work day Vibrio infection, including cholera3,4 Within 1 work day
Human immunodeficiency Syndrome (HIV)infection 1,2 Within 1 week Viral hemorrhagic fever, including Ebola3 Call immediately
Influenza-related pediatric mortality3 Within 1 work day West Nile Fever3 Within 1 week
Lead, child blood, any level & adult blood, any level 6 Call immediately Yellow Fever3 Call immediately
Legionellosis3 Within 1 week Yersiniosis3 Within 1 week

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/

 

For telephone and fax numbers and e-mail addresses, please visit our Contacts page!

 
Take a look at Milam County Health Department's Resource Guide

Disease Reporting

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