Summary of Notifiable Diseases --- United States, 2009

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -
Summary of Notifiable Diseases --- United States, 2009
Weekly
May 13, 2011 / 58(53);1-100




Prepared by

Patsy A. Hall-Baker, Coordinator, Summary of Notifiable Diseases1

Samuel L. Groseclose, DVM, MPH, Acting Division Director1

Ruth Ann Jajosky, DMD1

Deborah A. Adams1

Pearl Sharp1

Willie J. Anderson1

John P. Abellera, MPH1

Aaron E. Aranas, MPH, MBA1

Michelle Mayes1

Michael S. Wodajo1

Diana H. Onweh1

Meeyoung Park2

Jennifer Ward 1

1Division of Notifiable Diseases and Healthcare Information (proposed), the Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and and Laboratory Services, CDC

2McKing Consulting Corporation


Preface

The Summary of Notifiable Diseases--- United States, 2009 contains the official statistics, in tabular and graphic form, for the reported occurrence of nationally notifiable infectious diseases in the United States for 2009. Unless otherwise noted, the data are final totals for 2009 reported as of June 30, 2010. These statistics are collected and compiled from reports sent by state health departments and territories to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS), which is operated by CDC in collaboration with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE). The Summary is available at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/summary.html. This site also includes Summary publications from previous years.

The Highlights section presents noteworthy epidemiologic and prevention information for 2009 for selected diseases and additional information to aid in the interpretation of surveillance and disease-trend data. Part 1 contains tables showing incidence data for the nationally notifiable infectious diseases reported during 2009.* The tables provide the number of cases reported to CDC for 2009 and the distribution of cases by month, geographic location, and the patients' demographic characteristics (age, sex, race, and ethnicity). Part 2 contains graphs and maps that depict summary data for certain notifiable infectious diseases described in tabular form in Part 1. Part 3 contains tables that list the number of cases of notifiable diseases reported to CDC since 1978. This section also includes a table enumerating deaths associated with specified notifiable diseases reported to CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) during 2002--2007. The Selected Reading section presents general and disease-specific references for notifiable infectious diseases. These references provide additional information on surveillance and epidemiologic concerns, diagnostic concerns, and disease-control activities.

Comments and suggestions from readers are welcome. To increase the usefulness of future editions, comments regarding the current report and descriptions of how information is or could be used are invited. Comments should be sent to Data Operations Team--NNDSS, Division of Notifiable Diseases and Healthcare Information (proposed), Public Health Surveillance Program Office at soib@cdc.gov.

Background

The infectious diseases designated as notifiable at the national level during 2009 are listed in this section. A notifiable disease is one for which regular, frequent, and timely information regarding individual cases is considered necessary for the prevention and control of the disease. A brief history of the reporting of nationally notifiable infectious diseases in the United States is available at http://www.cdc.gov/ncphi/disss/nndss/nndsshis.htm. In 1961, CDC assumed responsibility for the collection and publication of data on nationally notifiable diseases. NNDSS is neither a single surveillance system nor a method of reporting. Certain NNDSS data are reported to CDC through separate surveillance information systems and through different reporting mechanisms; however, these data are aggregated and compiled for publication purposes.

Notifiable disease reporting at the local level protects the public's health by ensuring the proper identification and follow-up of cases. Public health workers ensure that persons who are already ill receive appropriate treatment; trace contacts who need vaccines, treatment, quarantine, or education; investigate and halt outbreaks; eliminate environmental hazards; and close premises where spread has occurred. Surveillance of notifiable conditions helps public health authorities to monitor the effect of notifiable conditions, measure disease trends, assess the effectiveness of control and prevention measures, identify populations or geographic areas at high risk, allocate resources appropriately, formulate prevention strategies, and develop public health policies. Monitoring surveillance data enables public health authorities to detect sudden changes in disease occurrence and distribution, identify changes in agents and host factors, and detect changes in health-care practices.

The list of nationally notifiable infectious diseases is revised periodically. A disease might be added to the list as a new pathogen emerges, or a disease might be deleted as its incidence declines. Public health officials at state health departments and CDC collaborate in determining which diseases should be nationally notifiable. CSTE, with input from CDC, makes recommendations annually for additions and deletions. Although disease reporting is mandated by legislation or regulation at the state and local levels, state reporting to CDC is voluntary. Reporting completeness of notifiable diseases is highly variable and related to the condition or disease being reported (1). The list of diseases considered notifiable varies by state and year. Current and historic national public health surveillance case definitions used for classifying and enumerating cases consistently across reporting jurisdictions are available at http://www.cdc.gov/ncphi/disss/nndss/nndsshis.htm


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Summary of Notifiable Diseases --- United States, 2009