Section 90. Those required to report

A. Physicians. Each physician who treats or examines any person who is suffering from or who is suspected of having a reportable disease or condition shall report that person's name, address, age, date of birth, race, sex, and pregnancy status for females; name of disease diagnosed or suspected; the date of onset of illness; available laboratory tests and results; and the name, address, and telephone number of the physician and medical facility where the examination was made, except that influenza should be reported by number of cases only (and type of influenza, if available). Reports are to be made to the local health department serving the jurisdiction where the physician practices. A physician may designate someone to report on his behalf, but the physician remains responsible for ensuring that the appropriate report is made. Any physician, designee, or organization making such report as authorized herein shall be immune from liability as provided by § 32.1-38 of the Code of Virginia.

Such reports shall be made on a Form Epi-1, a computer generated printout containing the data items requested on Form Epi-1, or a CDC or VDH surveillance form that provides the same information and shall be made within three days of the suspicion or confirmation of disease except that those identified in 12VAC5-90-80 C shall be reported immediately by the most rapid means available, preferably by telephone, to the local health department serving the jurisdiction in which the facility is located. Reporting may be done by means of secure electronic transmission upon agreement of the physician and the department.

Additional elements are required to be reported for individuals with confirmed or suspected active tuberculosis disease. Refer to Part X (12VAC5-90-225 et seq.) for details on these requirements.

B. Directors of laboratories. Laboratory directors shall report any laboratory examination of any clinical specimen, whether performed in-house or referred to an out-of-state laboratory, which yields evidence, by the laboratory method(s) indicated or any other confirmatory test, of a disease listed in 12VAC5-90-80 B.

Each report shall give the source of the specimen and the laboratory method and result; the name, address, age, date of birth, race, sex, and pregnancy status for females (if known) of the person from whom the specimen was obtained; and the name, address, and telephone number of the physician at whose request and medical facility at which the examination was made. When the influenza virus is isolated, the type should be reported, if available. Reports shall be made within three days of identification of evidence of disease, except that those identified in 12VAC5-90-80 C shall be reported immediately by the most rapid means available, preferably by telephone, to the local health department serving the jurisdiction in which the laboratory is located. Reports shall be made on Form Epi-1 or on the laboratory's own form if it includes the required information. Computer generated reports containing the required information may be submitted. Reporting may be done by means of secure electronic transmission upon agreement of the laboratory director and the department. Reports of HIV genetic nucleotide sequence data associated with HIV drug resistance tests must be submitted electronically. Any person making such report as authorized herein shall be immune from liability as provided by § 32.1-38 of the Code of Virginia.

A laboratory identifying evidence of any of the following conditions shall notify the local health department of the positive culture or other positive test result within the timeframes specified in 12VAC5-90-80 and submit the initial isolate or other initial specimen to the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services within seven days of identification. All specimens must be identified with the patient and physician information required in this subsection.

Anthrax

Botulism

Brucellosis

Cholera

Diphtheria

E. coli infection, Shiga toxin-producing. (Laboratories that use a Shiga toxin EIA methodology but do not perform simultaneous culture for Shiga toxin-producing E. coli should forward all positive stool specimens or positive enrichment broths to the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services for confirmation and further characterization.)

Haemophilus influenzae infection, invasive

Influenza A, novel virus

Listeriosis

Meningococcal disease

Pertussis

Plague

Poliovirus infection

Q fever

Salmonellosis

Shigellosis

Streptococcal disease, Group A, invasive

Tuberculosis (A laboratory identifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (see 12VAC5-90-225) shall submit a representative and viable sample of the initial culture to the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services or other laboratory designated by the board to receive such specimen.)

Tularemia

Typhoid/Paratyphoid fever

Vancomycin-intermediate or vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection

Vibrio infection, including infections due to Photobacterium damselae and Grimontia hollisae

Yersiniosis

Other diseases as may be requested by the health department

When a clinical specimen yields evidence indicating the presence of a select agent or toxin as defined by federal regulations in 42 CFR Part 73, the person in charge of the laboratory shall contact the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services and arrange to forward an isolate for confirmation. If a select agent or toxin has been confirmed in a clinical specimen, the laboratory director shall consult with Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services or CDC regarding isolate transport or destruction.

Laboratories operating within a medical care facility shall be considered to be in compliance with the requirement to notify the local health department when the director of that medical care facility assumes the reporting responsibility; however, laboratories are still required to submit isolates to the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services or other designated laboratory as noted in this subsection.

C. Persons in charge of a medical care facility. Any person in charge of a medical care facility shall make a report to the local health department serving the jurisdiction where the facility is located of the occurrence in or admission to the facility of a patient with a reportable disease listed in 12VAC5-90-80 A unless he has evidence that the occurrence has been reported by a physician. Any person making such report as authorized herein shall be immune from liability as provided by § 32.1-38 of the Code of Virginia. The requirement to report shall include all inpatient, outpatient, and emergency care departments within the medical care facility. Such report shall contain the patient's name, address, age, date of birth, race, sex, and pregnancy status for females; name of disease being reported; available laboratory tests and results; the date of admission; hospital chart number; date expired (when applicable); and attending physician. Influenza should be reported by number of cases only (and type of influenza, if available). Reports shall be made within three days of the suspicion or confirmation of disease except that those identified in 12VAC5-90-80 C shall be reported immediately by the most rapid means available, preferably by telephone, to the local health department serving the jurisdiction in which the facility is located. Reports shall be made on Form Epi-1, a computer generated printout containing the data items requested on Form Epi-1, or a CDC or VDH surveillance form that provides the same information. Reporting may be done by means of secure electronic transmission upon agreement of the medical care facility and the department.

A person in charge of a medical care facility may assume the reporting responsibility on behalf of the director of the laboratory operating within the facility.

D. Persons in charge of a residential or day program, service, or facility licensed or operated by any agency of the Commonwealth, or a school, child care center, or summer camp. Any person in charge of a residential or day program, service, or facility licensed or operated by any agency of the Commonwealth, or a school, child care center, or summer camp as defined in § 35.1-1 of the Code of Virginia shall report immediately to the local health department the presence or suspected presence in his program, service, facility, school, child care center, or summer camp of persons who have common symptoms suggesting an outbreak situation. Such persons may report additional information, including identifying and contact information for individuals with communicable diseases of public health concern or individuals who are involved in outbreaks that occur in their facilities, as necessary to facilitate public health investigation and disease control. Any person so reporting shall be immune from liability as provided by § 32.1-38 of the Code of Virginia.

E. Local health directors. The local health director shall forward any report of a disease or report of evidence of a disease which has been made on a resident of his jurisdiction to the Office of Epidemiology within three days of receipt. This report shall be submitted immediately by the most rapid means available if the disease is one requiring rapid communication, as required in 12VAC5-90-80 C. All such rapid reporting shall be confirmed in writing and submitted to the Office of Epidemiology, by either a paper report or entry into a shared secure electronic disease surveillance system, within three days. Furthermore, the local health director shall immediately forward to the appropriate local health director any disease reports on individuals residing in the latter's jurisdiction or to the Office of Epidemiology on individuals residing outside Virginia. The Office of Epidemiology shall be responsible for notifying other state health departments of reported illnesses in their residents and for notifying CDC as necessary and appropriate.

F. Persons in charge of hospitals, nursing facilities or nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and correctional facilities. In accordance with § 32.1-37.1 of the Code of Virginia, any person in charge of a hospital, nursing facility or nursing home, assisted living facility, or correctional facility shall, at the time of transferring custody of any dead body to any person practicing funeral services, notify the person practicing funeral services or his agent if the dead person was known to have had, immediately prior to death, an infectious disease which may be transmitted through exposure to any bodily fluids. These include any of the following infectious diseases:

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Human immunodeficiency virus infection

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis C

Rabies

Smallpox

Syphilis, infectious

Tuberculosis, active disease

Vaccinia, disease or adverse event

Viral hemorrhagic fever

G. Employees, conditional employees, and persons in charge of food establishments. 12VAC5-421-80 of the Food Regulations requires a food employee or conditional employee to notify the person in charge of the food establishment when diagnosed with certain diseases that are transmissible through food and requires the person in charge of the food establishment to notify the regulatory authority. Refer to 12VAC5-421-80 for further guidance and clarification regarding these reporting requirements.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR355-28-100 § 3.2, eff. July 1, 1993; amended, Volume 15, Issue 06, eff. January 6, 1999; Errata, 15:8 VA.R. 1099 January 4, 1999; amended, Virginia Register Volume 20, Issue 21, eff. July 28, 2004; Volume 23, Issue 15, eff. May 2, 2007; Volume 27, Issue 13, eff. March 28, 2011; Volume 33, Issue 02, eff. October 20, 2016.

Statutory Authority

§ 32.1-35 of the Code of Virginia.