Forms & Guidance

The data entry forms and guidance on this page are intended for use by staff at local, state, and territorial health departments who complete outbreak reports for submission to CDC. The data entry forms are available as fillable PDFs for completion by health jurisdictions that do not have direct access to NORS and therefore need to send a written report to their NORS administrators.

For guidance regarding the reporting process within a particular jurisdiction, users should contact their designated Reporting Site Administrators or Agency Administrators. Additional instructions for entering data are posted in Training Materials.

Waterborne Disease Outbreaks (enteric, non-enteric)

Forms for collecting data on waterborne disease outbreaks before entering into NORS

• Complete NORS-Water Form (CDC 52.12 Form) (read only) [12 pages]

Guidance documents

• NORS-Water Guidance Document [49 pages] (Updated November 2017) – Guidance for completing the water-specific sections of the CDC 52.12 form and the corresponding sections of the NORS electronic outbreak report form. See the NORS guidance for foodborne and enteric outbreak reporting (for CDC 52.13 form) [48 pages] below for more information on how to complete the general section of waterborne disease outbreak reports.
• NORS-Water List Values [27 pages] – Pick list values for water-related fields according to each section. Can be used in conjunction with the NORS-Water guidance document and the CDC 52.12 form.

Archived reporting forms

• Archived and historical versions of forms used to report waterborne disease outbreaks to CDC are available on the Healthy Water Waterborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance Reporting Forms Archive page.

Foodborne Disease Outbreaks and Enteric Disease Outbreaks Transmitted by Contact with Persons, Animals, or Environmental Sources, or by an Indeterminate/Unknown Mode

Forms for collecting data on foodborne disease outbreaks and all enteric disease outbreaks (other than waterborne) before entering into NORS

• NORS Form (CDC 52.13 Form) (read only) [7 pages]

Guidance documents

• National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) Guidance [49 pages] (Updated November 2017) – Guidance for completing all sections of the CDC 52.13 form and the corresponding sections of the NORS electronic outbreak report form. Refer to this document for guidance on the General section of waterborne disease outbreak reports.
• Appendix A [1 page]: Mode of Transmission for Certain Beverages and Foods or Drinks Containing Ice
• Appendix B [9 pages]: Reporting Multistate Exposure and Residency Outbreaks
• Appendix C [1 page]: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests and Other Requests for NORS Data
• Appendix D [20 pages]: NORS Guidance for Contributing Factors (CF) in Foodborne Outbreak Reports.
• Appendix E [3 pages]: Available Picklist Values