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Reportable diseases

Contents of this page:

Illustrations

Legionnaires' disease organism, legionella
Legionnaires' disease organism, legionella

Alternative Names    Return to top

Notifiable diseases

Definition    Return to top

Reportable diseases are diseases considered to be of great public health importance. Local, state, and national agencies (for example, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) require that such diseases be reported when they are diagnosed by doctors or laboratories.

Reporting allows for the collection of statistics that show how often the disease occurs, which in turn helps researchers identify disease trends and track disease outbreaks. This can help control future outbreaks.

Information    Return to top

All states have a "reportable diseases" list. Many of the diseases on the lists must also be reported to the U.S. Centers of Disease Control (CDC).

Reportable diseases are divided into several groups:

A typical state list may appear as follows. Diseases marked with an asterisk (*) must also be reported to the CDC:

The state health department will attempt to find the source of many of these illnesses, such as food poisoning or amebiasis. In the case of sexually-transmitted diseases (STD) the state will attempt to locate sexual contacts to assure they are disease-free or are appropriately treated if they are already infected.

The information obtained by reporting allows the state to make informed decisions and laws concerning activities and the environment such as food handling, water purification, insect control, animal control, STD tracking, and immunization programs.

Please remember that the health care provider is bound by law to report these events. People with any of the diseases listed in the state's reporting schedule should make every effort to cooperate with the state health workers. Cooperation may help locate the source of an infection or prevent the spread of an epidemic.

Update Date: 4/7/2008

Updated by: A.D.A.M. Editorial Team: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Greg Juhn, MTPW, David R. Eltz, Kelli A. Stacy, ELS. Previously reviewed by Monica Gandhi MD, MPH, Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases,UCSF, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network (6/19/2007).

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