Rule 511-2-1-.02 - Duty to Report Notifiable Diseases and Conditions(1) It shall be the duty of every reporter to promptly notify the Department upon discovering an actual or suspected case of a notifiable disease. Reports may be made through the State Electronic Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (SendSS), by telephone, by letter, or by completing and transmitting forms provided by the Department.(2) Outbreaks or unusual clusters of disease, whether infectious or noninfectious, must be reported promptly to the local county health department or to the Department.(3) The Department shall determine which diseases and conditions require notice, and shall publish an official roster of said notifiable diseases and conditions on its website. The official roster of notifiable diseases and conditions may contain instructions requiring a reporter to forward to the Department any clinical materials found to contain an agent of a notifiable disease. Each county health department shall be responsible for making the current notifiable disease roster available to local reporters, and for providing guidance and assistance on their reporting duties.(4) Upon special request by the Department, a reporter shall provide information or clinical materials which indicate the presence of diseases or conditions of public health significance, such as newly recognized infectious agents, antimicrobial resistant infections such as those caused by carbapenem resistant enterobacteriacae, deaths or critical illness from suspected infectious agents, alcohol/drug abuse, birth defects, cancer, heart attack, stroke, injuries, poisonings and occupational diseases.(5) Upon special request by the Department, a reporter shall provide additional information to the Department concerning patients for whom they have submitted clinical materials, and to provide additional clinical materials when so requested for the purpose of providing complete laboratory confirmation of cases having public health importance, if the condition and circumstances of the patient permit.(6) Clinical laboratories shall retain all reports of notifiable disease for two years from the date of the report. Clinical laboratories shall retain clinical materials containing an agent of a notifiable disease for at least one week from the date of the report, and shall send said materials to the Department for further testing upon request or as directed in the official roster of notifiable diseases and conditions.(7) Information concerning the occurrence or probable occurrence of any notifiable disease and condition which comes to the attention of any county health department shall be promptly transmitted to the Department.Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. R. 511-2-1-.02
O.C.G.A. §§ 31-2A-6, 31-12-2, 31-17-2.
Original Rule entitled "Provisions" adopted. F. Sep. 23, 2013; eff. Oct. 13, 2013.Amended: New title "Duty to Report Notifiable Diseases and Conditions." F. Oct. 27, 2017; eff. Nov. 16, 2017.