2023 Texas Statutes › Health and Safety Code › Title 2 - Health › Subtitle D - Prevention, Control, and Reports of Diseases; Public Health Disasters and Emergencies › Chapter 81 - Communicable Diseases; Public Health Disasters; Public Health Emergencies › Subchapter C. Reports and Reportable Diseases › Section 81.042. Persons Required to Report

Sec. 81.042.  PERSONS REQUIRED TO REPORT.  (a)  A report under Subsection (b), (c), or (d) shall be made to the local health authority.
(b)  A dentist or veterinarian licensed to practice in this state or a physician shall report, after the first professional encounter, a patient or animal examined that has or is suspected of having a reportable disease.
(c)  A local school authority shall report a child attending school who is suspected of having a reportable disease.  The executive commissioner by rule shall establish procedures to determine if a child should be suspected and reported and to exclude the child from school pending appropriate medical diagnosis or recovery.
(d)  A person in charge of a clinical or hospital laboratory, blood bank, mobile unit, or other facility in which a laboratory examination of a specimen derived from a human body yields microscopical, cultural, serological, or other evidence of a reportable disease shall report the findings, in accordance with this section and procedures adopted by the executive commissioner, in the jurisdiction in which:
(1)  the physician's office is located, if the laboratory examination was requested by a physician; or
(2)  the laboratory is located, if the laboratory examination was not requested by a physician.
(e)  The following persons shall report to the local health authority or the department a suspected case of a reportable disease and all information known concerning the person who has or is suspected of having the disease if a report is not made as required by Subsections (a)-(d):
(1)  a professional registered nurse;
(2)  an administrator or director of a public or private temporary or permanent child-care facility;
(3)  an administrator or director of a nursing home, personal care home, adult respite care center, or day activity and health services facility;
(4)  an administrator of a home health agency;
(5)  an administrator or health official of a public or private institution of higher education;
(6)  an owner or manager of a restaurant, dairy, or other food handling or processing establishment or outlet;
(7)  a superintendent, manager, or health official of a public or private camp, home, or institution;
(8)  a parent, guardian, or householder;
(9)  a health professional;
(10)  an administrator or health official of a penal or correctional institution; or
(11)  emergency medical service personnel, a peace officer, or a firefighter.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.  Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 198, Sec. 2.171, eff. Sept. 1, 2003;  Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1312, Sec. 7, eff. June 21, 2003.
Amended by:
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1082 (S.B. 1178), Sec. 14, eff. September 1, 2012.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.0224, eff. April 2, 2015.
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1231 (S.B. 1999), Sec. 2, eff. June 19, 2015.