Current Trends
National Notifiable Diseases Reporting -- United States, 1994
CDC has recently published the Summary of Notifiable Diseases,
United States, 1993 (1). A notifiable disease is one for which
regular, frequent, and timely information on individual cases is
considered necessary for the prevention and control of the disease.
As of January 1, 1994, a total of 49 infectious diseases were
designated as notifiable at the national level Table_1.
Reported by: Div of Surveillance and Epidemiology, Epidemiology
Program Office, CDC.
Editorial Note
Editorial Note: In 1878, Congress authorized the U.S. Public Health
Service (PHS) to collect morbidity reports on cholera, smallpox,
plague, and yellow fever from U.S. consuls overseas; this
information was to be used for instituting 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. The authority for weekly reporting and
publication was expanded by Congress 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 the PHS
--
recommended weekly telegraphic reporting of five infectious
diseases and 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 nearly 30 specified conditions. At their meeting in
1950, the State and Territorial Health Officers authorized a
conference of state epidemiologists for the purpose of determining
what diseases should be reported to the PHS. CDC assumed
responsibility for the collection and publication of data on
nationally notifiable diseases in 1961.
Public health officials at state health departments and CDC
continue to collaborate in determining which diseases should be
nationally notifiable; during its annual meeting, the Council of
State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) makes recommendations
for additions and deletions to the national notifiable disease list
on the basis of CDC suggestions. However, reporting of nationally
notifiable diseases to CDC by the states is voluntary. Reporting is
mandated only at the state level. The list of diseases that are
considered notifiable, therefore, varies by state. All states
generally report the internationally quarantinable diseases
(cholera, plague, and yellow fever) in compliance with the World
Health Organization's International Health Regulations.
The list of nationally notifiable diseases is revised
periodically. Diseases are added to the list as new pathogens
emerge; diseases are deleted as their incidence declines. Of the 49
nationally notifiable infectious diseases reported to CDC in 1993,
41 were reported on a weekly basis, and eight were reported
monthly. CSTE will review the principles of notifiable disease
reporting in late fall of 1994.
Reference
CDC. Summary of notifiable diseases, United States, 1993. MMWR
1994;42(no. 53).
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| Erratum: Vol. 43, No. 43
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| SOURCE: MMWR 43(49);923 DATE: Dec 16, 1994
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| In the article "National Notifiable Diseases Reporting --
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| States, 1994," the year of publication listed in the reference
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| should have been MMWR 1993 instead of MMWR 1994.
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------+ Table_1 Note:
To print large tables and graphs users may have to change their printer settings to landscape and use a small font size.
TABLE 1. Infectious diseases designated as notifiable at the national level -- United States, 1994
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AIDS Malaria
Amebiasis * Measles
Anthrax Meningococcal infection
Aseptic meningitis Mumps
Botulism Pertussis
Brucellosis Plague
Chancroid * Poliomyelitis
Cholera Psittacosis
Congenital rubella syndrome Rabies, animal
Diphtheria Rabies, human
Encephalitis Rheumatic fever *
Escherichia coli O157:H7 * Rocky mountain spotted fever
Gonorrhea (Typhus fever, tickborne)
Granuloma inguinale Rubella
Haemophilus influenzae Salmonellosis *
Hepatitis A Shigellois *
Hepatitis B Syphilis
Hepatitis, non-A, non-B Tetanus
Hepatitis, unspecified Toxic-shock syndrome
Legionellosis Trichinosis
Leprosy (Hansen disease) Tuberculosis
Leptospirosis Tularemia
Lyme disease Typhoid fever
Lymphogranuloma venereum * Varicella (chickenpox) * +
Yellow fever *
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* Reports of these diseases are not printed weekly in Table I or Table II of the MMWR.
+ Although varicella is not officially a nationally notifiable disease, the Council of State and Territorial
Epidemiologists encourage transmission of information about cases of varicella to CDC.
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