The Snohomish Health District investigates over 60 communicable diseases and conditions
that are reportable to the local health jurisdiction in accordance with WAC 246-101.
In certain situations, clusters of illness (i.e., norovirus and influenza) are also
reportable, especially in healthcare facilities, schools and child cares.
Here you will find more information about specific diseases, what must be reported,
how to make reports and other pertinent resources (includes school absenteeism reporting).
What to Report
Per WAC 246-101, certain conditions must be reported to local public health. For detailed
lists of notifiable conditions and reporting timeframes, click “read more”.
Washington State Department of Health’s website
provides additional notifiable condition information including surveillance data and disease investigation guidelines. Snohomish Health District also provides
Communicable Disease Fact Sheets.
Notifiable Conditions Posters
How to Report
The Snohomish Health District (SHD) has four different programs to investigate specific
communicable diseases, each with different requirements for reporting. See below for
specific program contact information and any available reporting forms.
- Communicable Disease (CD) Program
Includes all notifiable conditions, except TB, STD, and HIV/AIDS; also includes animal bites.
For Non-Urgent Reports:
- Messages can be left on the 24 hour report line; please also fax the lab report to us.
- Print out the reporting form, complete and fax to us along with the lab result.
DO NOT email the report form to us.
For Urgent Reports:
Requiring immediate public health intervention (i.e., measles or meningococcal disease)
- During business hours, contact the main phone number.
- For healthcare providers and labs ONLY: After business hours, call the 24 hour report line for further instructions.
Office Hours
Main Phone
Fax
24 Hour Report Line
Report Form
: Monday - Friday 8:00am – 5:00pm
: 425.339.5278
: 425.339.8706
: 425.339.5235
:
Disease Report Form
- HIV/AIDS Program
Reports should be made either to the 24 hour report line or by faxed report.
DO NOT email the report form to us.
Office Hours
Main Phone
Fax
24 Hour Report Line
Report Form
: Monday - Friday 8:00am – 5:00pm
: 425.339.5298
: 425.339.8707
: 425.339.5235
:
Case Report Form
- Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) Program
Reports should be made to the 24 hour report line.
Office Hours
Main Phone
Fax
24 Hour Report Line
Report Form
: Monday - Friday 8:00am – 5:00pm
: 425.339.5298
: 425.339.8707
: 425.339.5235
:
STD Report Form
- Tuberculosis Control (TB) Program
Clients with a first time positive Tuberculosis Skin Test (TST) need to follow-up first with
their own healthcare provider. If the client has no signs or symptoms of active TB disease,
and a clean chest x-ray, then the healthcare provider is responsible for treatment and
follow-up of their condition called Latent TB Infection (LTBI). For those clients who
show signs and symptoms suspicious for active TB disease, then call SHD TB Control Program.
The Snohomish Health District no longer manages LTBI cases, but we do provide consultation
to healthcare providers and clients in the community.
When healthcare providers should contact us:
- You have a client you suspect of having active TB disease.
- You have a client who has been exposed recently to a person with active TB disease.
- For consultation purposes.
For Non-Urgent Reports:
- During business hours, contact the main phone number.
- After business hours, messages can be left on the 24 hour report line; please also fax the lab report to us.
For Urgent Reports:
Requiring immediate public health intervention or consultation
- During business hours, contact the main phone number.
- For healthcare providers and labs ONLY: After business hours, call the 24 hour report line for further instructions.
Office Hours
Main Phone
Fax
24 Hour Report Line
Report Form
: Monday - Friday 8:00am – 5:00pm
: 425.339.5225
: 425.339.5217
: 425.339.5235
: Not Available
Who Must Report
Health care providers, health care facilities, laboratories, schools and child care
programs are required to report certain communicable diseases to SHD. Please supply
as much of the following information as possible, either by phone or faxed report
- Patient's name
- Date of birth
- Race
- Gender
- Home and cell phone
- Work phone
- Address
- Disease
- Method of diagnosis
- Date of onset
- Chief symptoms/complaints
- Lab test results
- Treatment given
- Possible source
- Attending physician
- Physician's phone number
- Additional comments
- Name and title of person making report
- Phone number of person making report
- Hospital admission/ER visit date
- Discharge date
Rules Governing CD Reporting
List of rules that govern the Communicable Disease Reporting: HIPAA and WACS
HIPAA
The HIPAA Privacy Rule permits covered entities to disclose Protected Health
Information (PHI), without authorization, to public health authorities, such as
Snohomish Health District, that are legally authorized to receive such information
for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury or disability. Included
here is a letter that further discusses healthcare providers’ ability to report
patients with notifiable conditions (as well as their medical information), and an
NOPP letter for patients.
Washington Administrative Codes
The WACs specify who must report notifiable conditions.
For Schools and Care Facilities
Provides guidance related to illness reporting, including information about school absenteeism and reporting outbreaks/clusters, norovirus and influenza.
Outbreaks or Clusters
In certain situations, clusters of illness (i.e., norovirus and influenza) are also reportable,
especially in healthcare facilities, schools and child cares. Any cluster or pattern of cases,
suspected cases, deaths or increased incidence of any potentially infectious disease or
condition beyond that expected in a given period which may indicate an outbreak, epidemic or
related public health hazard shall be reported immediately by telephone to the appropriate
program. Although a disease may not require a report, you are always welcome to call for
advice, especially when dealing with outbreaks of illness.
Please report outbreaks of possible Influenza or Norovirus to the SHD Communicable Disease
Program at 425.339.5278. For infection control guidelines and other resources see the specific
topics below.
School Illness Reporting
In general, schools only need to report outbreaks of illness to the Snohomish Health
District. Defining what constitutes an outbreak can be difficult and will vary
depending on the type of disease and school/SHD protocols. Here you will find more
information about when schools should report to SHD and other resources (including
10% absenteeism reports).
Essentially, schools should report outbreaks to us when the situation is abnormal for
your school (i.e., any significant increase of illness above the norm) and is
uncontrolled (i.e., your current infection control practices are not working to
control the spread of illness among the students/staff).
- When the school nurse and/or school administrators feel that there may be
an outbreak, please report to the SHD Communicable Disease Program at 425.339.5278.
- When you call us, we will assess the situation and determine what interventions
(if any) are necessary.
- You can also call any time for consultation about communicable disease concerns.
Resources:
Influenza
Influenza surveillance is conducted throughout our county and involves schools,
healthcare providers, and long term care facilities. Infection control guidelines
and other influenza resources are listed below. Please report outbreaks of
Influenza-like illness to the SHD Communicable Disease Program at 425.339.5278.
Resources:
Norovirus
Norovirus (previously called Norwalk-like virus) is usually only reportable as a
cluster within high risk settings, such as long term care facilities, schools
and child cares. In general, we offer consultation and resources for interrupting
the transmission of illness. Outbreak management guidelines and other norovirus
resources are listed below. Please report outbreaks of Norovirus-like illness
to the SHD Communicable Disease Program at 425.339.5278.
Resources:
Rabies Assessment and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP)
The Snohomish Health District is responsible for assessing the risk of rabies
related to all animal bites and other exposures.
If there is any concern of potential rabies exposure, then SHD will help coordinate
PEP for the exposed person. The goal of public health is, first, to prevent human
exposure to rabies by education and second, to prevent the disease by PEP. More
information about animal bites and rabies risk is listed below.
All animal bites are reportable to Snohomish Health District. Persons with
any potential exposure to a bat or other wild animal should be reported immediately
to the Communicable Disease Program for full assessment of need for PEP.
If someone has been bitten by any animal, or may have come into contact with a
bat (i.e., bat found in a sleeping area), he or she needs to be evaluated by a
healthcare provider and/or the Snohomish Health District to determine if PEP is
necessary. The decision to start PEP is based on many different factors, including:
- Type of animal
- Surveillance information for the area where the animal exposure happened
- Type of exposure
- Whether lab testing is done (on the animal)
In Washington State, bats are the only known reservoir for rabies and less
than 1% of bats in the wild are rabid. However, 5-10% of the sick and injured bats
submitted for testing in WA are rabid. Bats are also the primary reservoir for
rabies in Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia. However, during 2000-2007, rabid
non-bat animals were detected in these states and province. Oregon identified 6
rapid foxes with bat-variant rabies during 2000-2007. Idaho detected a rabid
bobcat in 2001 and a rabid skunk in 2004 both with bat variant of rabies. British
Columbia found 4 skunks in a park in Vancouver in 2004 and a cat in 2007 all
infected with bat-variant rabies. This clearly demonstrates that rabies in bats
spills over to other wild animals, as well as domestic animals.
Resources:
MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus)
MRSA is not a reportable condition to the Snohomish Health District.
The following are different MRSA resources for healthcare providers and schools.
Resources For Providers:
Resources For Schools:
SHD CD Reports
List of Snohomish Health District Communicable Disease Report:
Resources
List of Resources: