Reporting Disease and Conditions
Health care providers in New York City are required to report certain diseases and conditions to the Health Department. We use this information to track, control and prevent diseases in the city, as well as to detect and respond to outbreaks.
Online reports are made through Reporting Central. Depending on the disease, you can report online, by phone, by fax or by mail.
Infectious Diseases
Infectious diseases fall into four different reporting categories based on how quickly they must be reported. See below to learn more about the four categories.
Report Immediately Upon Suspicion by Calling 866-692-3641
These diseases must be reported immediately at all times.
- A suspected outbreak of disease occurring in at least three people
- An unusual manifestation of any disease or condition
- A newly apparent or emerging disease, or a syndrome of uncertain etiology that could possibly be communicable
- Anthrax
- Arboviral infections, acute
- Botulism (including infant, foodborne and wound)
- Brucellosis
- Chikungunya
- Cholera
- Diphtheria
- Glanders
- Hantavirus disease
- Haemophilus influenzae disease, invasive
- Influenza, novel strain with pandemic potential
- Measles (rubeola)
- Melioidosis
- Meningococcal disease, invasive (including meningitis)
- Monkeypox
- Plague
- Poliomyelitis
- Q fever
- Rabies or exposure to rabies, such as from an animal bite
- Rubella (German measles)
- Severe or novel coronavirus, such as SARS or MERS-CoV
- Smallpox (variola)
- Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin intermediate (VISA) and resistant (VRSA)
- Staphylococcal enterotoxin B poisoning
- Tularemia
- Vaccinia disease (adverse events associated with smallpox vaccination)
- Viral hemorrhagic fever, such as Ebola
- West Nile viral neuroinvasive disease, such as meningitis or encephalitis
- West Nile fever
- Yellow fever
- Zika
Report Immediately Upon Suspicion by Calling 866-692-3641 (High Risk Groups)
The diseases listed below must be reported immediately if the patient:
- Handles food
- Is a health care practitioner who providers oral care or feeds patients
- Is a staff member or child younger than 5 who works at or attends a congregate setting, such as school, day care or camp
- Lives or works at a congregate residential setting, such as a correctional or homeless facility
If the cases do not meet the above conditions, then they must be reported within 24 hours online through Reporting Central, or by mailing or faxing a Universal Reporting Form (PDF).
Diseases
- Amebiasis
- Campylobacteriosis
- Cryptosporidiosis
- Escherichia coli O157:H7
- Giardiasis
- Hepatitis A
- Paratyphoid fever
- Salmonellosis
- Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC)
- Shigellosis
- Typhoid fever
- Yersiniosis, non-plague
Report Within 24 Hours Online, by Mail or by Fax
- Anaplasmosis (human granulocytic)
- Babesiosis
- Chancroid
- Chlamydia
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
- Cyclosporiasis
- Dengue
- Ehrlichiosis (human monocytic)
- Encephalitis
- Gonorrhea
- Granuloma inguinale (donovanosis)
- Hemolytic uremic syndrome
- Haemophilus influenzae disease, invasive
- Hepatitis B, acute
- Hepatitis B in a pregnant or post-partum woman
- Hepatitis B test result of an infant born to a positive mother
- Hepatitis C, acute
- Herpes simplex virus, neonatal infection (infants younger than 60 days)
- Influenza-associated deaths of children younger than 18
- Legionellosis
- Leprosy (Hansen’s disease)
- Leptospirosis
- Listeriosis
- Lyme disease
- Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus
- Lymphogranuloma venereum
- Malaria
- Meningitis, bacterial causes
- Mumps
- Pertussis (whooping cough)
- Psittacosis
- Respiratory syncytial virus, pediatric death (children younger than 18)
- Rickettsialpox
- Rocky Mountain spotted fever
- Rubella syndrome, congenital
- Streptococcus, Group A (invasive infections)
- Streptococcus, Group B (invasive infections)
- Syphilis, all stages including congenital
- Tetanus
- Toxic shock syndrome
- Trachoma
- Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy
- Trichinosis
- Tuberculosis
- Varicella (not shingles)
- Vibrio species, non-cholera
HIV, HIV-Related Illnesses and AIDS
You must report cases of HIV, HIV-related illnesses and AIDS within 14 days of diagnosis.
Other Conditions
Immunization and Adverse Vaccine Events
All immunizations given to people ages 18 years or younger must be reported within 14 days to the Citywide Immunization Registry (CIR). You may also voluntarily report immunizations for older patients to CIR, but that is not required.
Drownings
You must report drownings within 24 hours of the event online through Reporting Central.
Falls from Windows
Report window falls by children 16 years or younger to the NYC Health Department. All falls from a window in a building with three or more units must be reported within 24 hours of the incident.
Call 646-632-6023 Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or call 311 outside of business hours.
After calling, complete the Child Window Falls Reporting Form (PDF) and send the completed form by encrypted email to windowfallprevention@health.nyc.gov. If you are not able to send by encrypted email, fax the form to 347-396-8926, Attn: WindowFall.
Animal Bites
Food Poisoning
You must report the following cases immediately by calling 866-692-3641:
- Food poisoning in a group of two or more people. This includes clusters of diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms. It can also include cases of sore throat that appear to be due to consumption of the same spoiled, contaminated or poisonous food, as well as cases of people who ate at the same restaurant or other setting where such food was served.
- Cases of neurologic symptoms consistent with foodborne toxin-mediated. This includes, but is not limited to, botulism, comorbid or ciguartera fish poisoning, and neurotoxic or paralytic shellfish poisoning.
You must report poisonings by drugs other toxic agents. That includes, but is not limited to:
