A
notifiable disease is any disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities. The collation of information allows the authorities to monitor the disease, and provides early warning of possible outbreaks. Many governments have enacted regulations for reporting of both human and animal (generally livestock) diseases. This usually happens during
pandemicSee also: 2009 flu pandemic A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance a continent, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a...
s.
The
World Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health...
's
International Health Regulations 1969 require disease reporting to the organization in order to help with its global surveillance and advisory role.
A
notifiable disease is any disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities. The collation of information allows the authorities to monitor the disease, and provides early warning of possible outbreaks. Many governments have enacted regulations for reporting of both human and animal (generally livestock) diseases. This usually happens during
pandemicSee also: 2009 flu pandemic A pandemic is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance a continent, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a...
s.
Human
The
World Health OrganizationThe World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health...
's
International Health Regulations 1969 require disease reporting to the organization in order to help with its global surveillance and advisory role. The current (1969) regulations are rather limited with a focus on reporting of three main diseases:
choleraCholera, sometimes known as Asiatic or epidemic cholera, is an infectious gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin-producing strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Transmission to humans occurs through eating food or drinking water contaminated with Vibrio cholerae from other cholera patients...
,
yellow feverYellow fever is an acute viral disease. The virus, a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus of the family of Flaviviridae is transmitted by the bite of mosquitoes...
and plague.
The revised
International Health Regulations 2005 (scheduled to enter into force in June 2007) broadens this scope and is no longer limited to the notification of specific diseases. Whilst it does identify a number of specific diseases, it also defines a limited set of criteria to assist in deciding whether an event is notifiable to WHO.
Animal
The OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health) monitors specific animal diseases on a global scale.
Human
The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) was established in 1990. Notifications are made to the States or Territory health authority and computerised, de-identified records are then supplied to the
Department of Health and AgeingThe Department of Health and Ageing is an Australian Government department. Its role is to oversee the running of Australia including supporting universal and affordable access to medical, pharmaceutical and hospital services, while helping people to stay healthy through health promotion and...
for collation, analysis and
publication.
Animal
Within Australia the
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and ForestryThe Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is an Australian government department. Its role is to increase the profitability, competitiveness and sustainability of Australian agriculture, fisheries, forestry and food industries and enhance the natural resource base to achieve greater...
regulates the notification of infectious animal diseases.
Human
Human
Notification is regulated under the
Heath Act 1956.
Human
Requirement for the notification of infectious diseases originated near the end of the 19th century. The list started with a few select diseases and has since grown to about 30. Currently disease notification for humans in the UK is regulated under the
Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 and
Public Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations 1988. The governing body is the
Health Protection AgencyThe Health Protection Agency , originally established as an NHS special health authority in 2003, it is now a non-departmental public body charged with protecting the health and well-being of United Kingdom citizens from infectious diseases and with preventing harm and reducing impacts when hazards...
(Centre for Infections).
Children
There are also requirements for notification specific to children is the
National standards for under 8s day care and childminding that state: "
Office for Standards in EducationThe Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England . All the powers belong to HMCI or to Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools who are appointed by Order in Council and are thus...
should be notified of any food poisoning affecting two or more children looked after on the premises, any child having meningitis or the outbreak on the premises of any notifiable disease identified as such in the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 or because the notification requirement has been applied to them by regulations (the relevant regulations are the Public Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations 1988)."
Animal
In the UK notification of diseases in animals is regulated by the
Animal Health Act 1981, as well as the
Specified Diseases (Notification and Slaughter) Order 1992 (as amended) and
Specified Diseases (Notification) Order 1996 (as amended). The act states that a police constable should be notified, however in practice a Defra divisional veterinary manager is notified and Defra will investigate.
United States
In the past, notifiable diseases in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
varied according to the laws of individual states. The
Centers for Disease Control and PreventionThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services based in Atlanta, Georgia. It works to protect public health and safety by providing information to enhance health decisions, and it promotes health through...
and the
Council of State and Territorial EpidemiologistsThe Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists was organized in the USA in the early 1950s in response to the need to have at least one person in each state and territory responsible for public health surveillance of diseases and conditions of public health significance. Since then, CSTE has...
(CSTE) also produced a list of nationally notifiable diseases that health officials should report to the
CDCThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services based in Atlanta, Georgia. It works to protect public health and safety by providing information to enhance health decisions, and it promotes health through...
's National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS). A uniform criteria for reporting diseases to the NNDSS was introduced in 1990.