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Summary of Notifiable Diseases
United States 2001
Background
The infectious diseases designated as notifiable at the
national level during 2001 are listed in the following table. 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
- Ehrlichiosis, human, other or unspecified agent
- Encephalitis, California serogroup viral
- Encephalitis, eastern equine
- Encephalitis, St. Louis
- Encephalitis, western equine
- Escherichia coli, enterohemorrhagic
(EHEC), O157:H7
- EHEC, serogroup non-O157
- EHEC, not serogrouped
- Gonorrhea
- Haemophilus influenzae, invasive disease
- Hansen disease (leprosy)
- Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
- Hemolytic uremic syndrome, postdiarrheal
- Hepatitis A, acute
- Hepatitis B, acute
- Hepatitis B, perinatal
- Hepatitis, C; non-A, non-B
- Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection,
adult
- HIV infection, pediatric (<13 yrs)
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- Legionellosis
- 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
- Streptococcal toxic-shock syndrome
- Streptococcus pneumoniae, invasive,
drug-resistant
- Streptococcus pneumoniae, invasive, <5
yrs
- 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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