Notifiable infectious diseases
The notification system in England and Wales is the oldest national system for collecting statistics on communicable diseases. The Infectious Disease (Notification) Act 1889 was introduced to identify and prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Many of the diseases notifiable under that Act are now rare or have been eliminated in England and Wales, but other diseases have been added to the list which now covers 29 infections.
Responsibility for notification
A doctor who makes the diagnosis (confirmed or suspected) of a notifiable infectious disease is required by statute to notify the Proper Officer of their local authority (in this case, Greater Manchester Health Protection Unit and Salford City Council).
The only circumstances in which notification is not required is when the doctor has reason to believe that a colleague has already notified the case. This is not a voluntary reporting system and there are financial penalties for failing to notify a case of a notifiable infection disease.
Who is the 'Proper Officer'?
'Proper Officer' is a term widely used in local government and defined as "an officer appointed for that purpose by that body". In most cases the Proper Officer for some or all of the functions of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 is the Consultant in Communicable Disease Control (CCDC), but the most senior professional Environmental Health Officer may also be appointed as Proper Officer for certain sections of the Act.
Why notify?
As in the Infectious Diseases (Notifications) Act 1889, notifications are necessary to identify and prevent the spread of infectious disease. In some cases notifications are used to monitor the development of community outbreaks or the success of immunisation programmes. In many cases they prompt the identification of vehicles of infection, such as contaminated foodstuffs or the identification and protection of contacts, as in the case of meningitis or tuberculosis.
Diseases which pose a serious threat to the public health, such as meningitis, poliomyelitis, diphtheria, etc should be notified by telephone, as should suspected outbreaks of infectious diseases, including food poisoning. Whenever notification is made by telephone, this should always be followed by written notification using the official form.
Which diseases are notifiable?
The following diseases are notifiable under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 or the Public Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations 1988.
- Acute encephalitis
- Acute poliomyelitis
- Anthrax
- Cholera
- Diphtheria
- Dysentery
- Food poisoning
- Leptospirosis
- Malaria
- Measles
- Meningitis
- Meningococcal
- Pneumococcal
- Haemophilus influenzae
- Viral Meningococcal septicaemia (without meningitis)
- Mumps
- Ophthalmia neonatorum
- Paratyphoid fever
- Plague
- Rabies
- Relapsing fever
- Rubella
- Scarlet fever
- Smallpox
- Tetanus
- Tuberculosis
- Typhoid fever
- Viral haemorrhagic fever
- Viral hepatitis
- Hepatitis A
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
- Whooping cough
- Yellow fever
Government strategy for controlling infectious diseases
In January 2002 the Government published "Getting Ahead of the Curve", its strategy for combating infectious diseases and other aspects of health protection. This document announced a review of the law on infectious diseases, including the contribution of respective agencies. Further information on the notification of infectious diseases is available from the Health Protection Agency.
Avian influenza (bird flu) is a disease of birds caused by influenza viruses closely related to human influenza viruses.
It is an important disease economically for poultry farmers because of losses in poultry flocks. Transmission to humans in close contact with poultry or other birds occurs rarely and only with some strains of avian influenza.
The potential for transformation of avian influenza into a form that both causes severe disease in humans and spreads easily from person to person is a great concern for world health.
More information is available on avian influenza on the HPA's, DEFRA's and HSE's websites:
- The Health Protection Agency
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
- Health and Safety Executive
Greater Manchester Health Protection Unit
The Greater Manchester Health Protection Unit works strategically to protect the health of Greater Manchester residents, to be a source of expert advice, and to assist local NHS primary care trusts in fulfilling their health protection responsibilities.
Salford Primary Care Trust (PCT)
The PCT holds the NHS budget for Salford. It works to improve health in Salford and help people live longer and better lives. The PCT steers the work of GP practices, directly provides services such as health visiting, district nursing and therapy services and ensures hospital care and other specialist treatment is available.
Health Protection surveillance of infectious disease and environmental hazards is a core part of the work of the Health Protection Agency. In the North West Region, collected data is available through a mapping display package called InstantAtlas™ InstantAtlas is a simple to use mapping system presenting comparative trends in data in North West England by Local Authority or PCT. The data can be filtered by time, geography and data type.
Who to contact
- Name
- Environmental Health
- Address
- Environment Directorate
Turnpike House
631 Eccles New Road
Salford
M5 2SH - Telephone
- 0161-737 0551
- environment@salford.gov.uk
This page was last updated on 10 December 2009
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