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Summary of Notifiable Diseases
United States 2000
Background
As of January 1, 2000, a total of 60 infectious diseases
were designated as notifiable at the national level. A notifiable disease
is one for which regular, frequent, and timely information regarding
individual cases is considered necessary for the prevention and control
of the disease. This section briefly summarizes the history of the
reporting of nationally notifiable diseases in the United States.
In 1878, Congress authorized the U.S. Marine Hospital
Service (the forerunner of the Public Health Service [PHS]) to collect
morbidity reports regarding cholera, smallpox, plague, and yellow fever
from U.S. consuls overseas. The intention was to use this information
to institute quarantine measures to prevent the introduction and spread
of these diseases into the United States. In 1879, a specific Congressional
appropriation was made for the collection and publication of reports
of these notifiable diseases. Congress expanded the authority for weekly
reporting and publication of these reports in 1893 to include data
from states and municipal authorities. To increase the uniformity of
the data, Congress enacted a law in 1902 directing the Surgeon General
to provide forms for the collection and compilation of data and for
the publication of reports at the national level. In 1912, state and
territorial health authorities — in conjunction with PHS — recommended
immediate telegraphic reporting of five infectious diseases and the
monthly reporting, by letter, of 10 additional diseases. The first
annual summary of The Notifiable Diseases in 1912 included
reports of 10 diseases from 19 states, the District of Columbia, and
Hawaii. By 1928, all states, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, and
Puerto Rico were participating in national reporting of 29 specified
diseases. At their annual meeting in 1950, state and territorial health
officers authorized the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
(CSTE) to determine which diseases should be reported to PHS. In 1961,
CDC assumed responsibility for the collection and publication of data
concerning nationally notifiable diseases.
The list of nationally notifiable diseases is revised
periodically. For example, a disease might be added to the list as
a new pathogen emerges, or a disease might be deleted as its incidence
declines. Public health officials at state health departments and CDC
continue to collaborate in determining which diseases should be nationally
notifiable. CSTE, with input from CDC, makes recommendations annually
for additions and deletions. Although disease reporting is mandated
by legislation or regulation at the state and local levels, state reporting
to CDC is voluntary. Thus, the list of diseases considered notifiable
varies slightly by state. All states generally report the internationally
quarantinable diseases (i.e., cholera, plague, and yellow fever) in
compliance with the World Health Organization's International Health
Regulations.
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
- Anthrax
- Botulism
- Brucellosis
- Chancroid
- Chlamydia trachomatis, genital infection
- Cholera
- Coccidioidomycosis
- Cryptosporidiosis
- Cyclosporiasis
- Diphtheria
- Ehrlichiosis, human granulocytic
- Ehrlichiosis, human monocytic
- Encephalitis, California serogroup viral
- Encephalitis, eastern equine
- Encephalitis, St. Louis
- Encephalitis, western equine
- Escherichia coli O157:H7
- Gonorrhea
- Haemophilus influenzae, invasive disease
- Hansen disease (leprosy)
- Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
- Hemolytic uremic syndrome, postdiarrheal
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis, C;non-A, non-B
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection,
adult
- HIV infection, pediatric
- Legionellosis
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- Listeriosis
- Lyme disease
- Malaria
- Measles
- Meningococcal disease
- Mumps
- Pertussis
- Plague
- Poliomyelitis, paralytic
- Psittacosis
- Q Fever
- Rabies, animal
- Rabies, human
- Rocky Mountain spotted fever
- Rubella
- Rubella, congenital syndrome
- Salmonellosis
- Shigellosis
- Streptococcal disease, invasive, Group A
- Streptococcus pneumoniae, drug resistant,
invasive disease
- Streptococcal toxic-shock syndrome
- Syphilis
- Syphilis, congenital
- Tetanus
- Toxic-shock syndrome
- Trichinosis
- Tuberculosis
- Tularemia
- Typhoid fever
- Varicella (chickenpox)*
- Varicella deaths
- Yellow fever
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* Although varicella (chickenpox) is not a nationally
notifiable disease, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
recommends reporting cases of this disease to CDC. |
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