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Summary of Notifiable Diseases
United States 1997
Background
As of January 1, 1997, 52 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 (i.e., 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 Conference of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
(CSTE), whose purpose was 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. However, reporting of nationally notifiable
diseases to CDC by the states is voluntary. Reporting currently is
mandated (i.e., by legislation or regulation) only at the state and
local level. 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.
The list of 52 infectious diseases designated as notifiable
at the national level during 1997 is as follows:
The 52 Infectious Diseases That Were Designated
as Notifiable at the National Level During 1997
- Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome
- Anthrax
- Botulism*
- Brucellosis
- Chancroid*
- Chlamydia trachomatis, genital infection
- Cholera
- Coccidioidomycosis*
- Congenital rubella syndrome
- Congenital syphilis
- Cyrptosporidiosis
- Diphtheria
- Encephalitis, California
- 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, post-diarrheal
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C/non-A, non-B
- HIV infection, pediatric
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- Legionellosis
- Lyme disease
- Malaria
- Measles (Rubeola)
- Meningococcal disease
- Mumps
- Pertussis
- Plague
- Poliomyelitis, paralytic
- Psittacosis
- Rabies, animal
- Rabies, human
- Rocky Mountain spotted fever
- Rubella
- Salmonellosis*
- Shigellosis*
- Streptococcal disease, invasive, group A
- Streptococcus pneumoniae, drug-resistant*
- Streptococcal toxic-shock syndrome
- Syphilis
- Tetanus
- Toxic-shock syndrome
- Trichinosis
- Tuberculosis
- Typhoid fever
- Yellow fever
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NOTE: Although varicella is not a notionally
notifiable disease, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
recommends reporting of cases of this disease to CDC.
*Not currently published in the MMWR weekly
tables.
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