Why do I need to report communicable diseases and notifiable conditions?
- Several Texas laws require that certain conditions be reported to the state or local health department.
- The Communicable Disease Prevention and Control Act (Health & Safety Code, Chapter 81)
- Article 97, Title 25, Texas Administrative Code
- All reports and sources of reports are strictly confidential.
Who is responsible for reporting communicable diseases?
- Physicians, dentists, veterinarians, chiropractors
- Hospitals and hospital laboratories
- School authorities, including a superintendent, principal, teacher, school health official or counselor
- Any person having knowledge of a suspected reportable condition
How long can I wait to report?
- The sooner a disease is reported, the better. Timely reports enable:
- Early outbreak detection
- Identification of risk factors
- Intervention to interrupt spread of disease
- Implementation and assessment of control factors
- Determination of extent of morbidity/mortality
- Disseminating of informationPlanning for the future
- Some diseases and conditions are immediately reportable while others are ten (10) working days.
- Please refer to the Texas Notifiable Conditions website for specific information.
What is reportable?
- Confirmed or suspected cases of the following and any outbreaks, exotic disease, or unusual group expression of illness, for a listing go to: Texas Notifiable Conditions
- Laboratories, blood banks, mobile units and other facilities in which a laboratory examination of a blood specimen is made are required to report patients with a CD4+ T lymphocyte cell count below 200 cells per micro-liter of CD4+ T lymphocyte percentage less than 14%