Texas Administrative Code › Title 25 - HEALTH SERVICES › Part 1 - DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES › Chapter 97 - COMMUNICABLE DISEASES › Subchapter A - CONTROL OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES › Section 97.4 - When and How to Report a Condition or Isolate

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Humans.
(1) The following notifiable conditions are
				  public health emergencies and suspect cases shall be reported immediately by
				  phone to the local health authority or the appropriate Department of State
				  Health Services regional epidemiology office: anthrax; botulism; diphtheria;
				  measles (rubeola); meningococcal infection, invasive; novel coronavirus; novel
				  influenza; poliomyelitis, acute paralytic; plague; rabies; smallpox; tularemia;
				  vancomycin-intermediate
Staphylococcus aureus
(VISA);
				  vancomycin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus
(VRSA); viral
				  hemorrhagic fever; yellow fever; and any outbreak, exotic disease, or unusual
				  group expression of disease that may be of public health concern.
(2) The following notifiable conditions shall
				  be reported by fax or phone within one working day of identification as a
				  suspected case: brucellosis;
Candida auris;
carbapenem
				  resistant
Enterobacteriaceae
(CRE); hepatitis A, acute;
				  hepatitis B, perinatal infection; influenza-associated pediatric mortality;
				  mumps; pertussis; poliovirus infection, non-paralytic; Q fever; rubella
				  (including congenital); syphilis infection in pregnant females; tuberculosis
(Mycobacterium tuberculosis
complex); and
Vibrio
infection (including cholera).
(3) AIDS, chancroid,
Chlamydia
				  trachomatis
infection, gonorrhea, HIV infection, and syphilis shall be
				  reported in accordance with Subchapter F of this chapter (relating to Sexually
				  Transmitted Diseases Including Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and
				  Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)).
(4) Tuberculosis antibiotic susceptibility
				  results should be reported by laboratories no later than one week after they
				  first become available.
(5) For all
				  other notifiable conditions not listed in paragraphs (1) - (4) of this
				  subsection, reports of disease shall be made no later than one week after a
				  case or suspected case is identified.
(A)
				  Transmittal may be by telephone, fax, mail, courier, or electronic
				  transmission.
(i) If by mail or courier, the
				  reports shall be on a form provided by the department and placed in a sealed
				  envelope addressed to the attention of the appropriate receiving source and
				  marked "Confidential."
(ii) Any
				  electronic transmission of the reports must provide at least the same degree of
				  protection against unauthorized disclosure as those of mail or courier
				  transmittal, be by express written agreement with the receiving agency, utilize
				  a format prescribed by the receiving agency, and be validated as
				  accurate.
(B) A health
				  information exchange (HIE) organization as defined by Texas Health and Safety
				  Code, §
												182.151, may
				  transmit reports on behalf of providers required to report in §97.2(a) -
				  (d) of this title (relating to Who Shall Report) in accordance with Texas
				  Health and Safety Code, Chapter 182, Subchapter D. Health Information
				  Exchanges, and all other state and federal law as follows:
(i) The receiving agency has published
				  message standards.
(ii) A method of
				  secure transmission has been established between the HIE and the receiving
				  agency and transmissions have been tested with the receiving agency and
				  established as meeting the data exchange standards and conveying information
				  accurately.
(iii) Reporting by the
				  HIE has been requested and authorized by the appropriate health care provider,
				  practitioner, physician, facility, clinical laboratory, or other person who is
				  required to report health-related information.
(iv) HIE reports may be made in addition to
				  but shall not replace reports listed in paragraphs (1) - (2) of this
				  subsection.
(6) All diseases requiring submission of
				  cultures in §
											97.3(a)(4)
				  of this title (relating to What Condition to Report and What Isolates to Report
				  or Submit) shall be submitted as they become available.