Legally Reportable Diseases in San Francisco

The San Francisco Department of Public Health depends on clinicians to identify and report infectious diseases. Clinicians may be the first to see a potential outbreak and their prompt notification enables us to investigate and begin disease control activities quickly. For some diseases every hour makes a difference in preventing illness and death.

Reportable Diseases and Conditions by Urgency of Reporting

(or download an Alphabetical List)

Immediately (within 1 hour) report by phone

• Anthrax*
• Avian Influenza (human)
• Botulism* (Infant, Foodborne, or Wound)
• Brucellosis*
• Cholera
• Ciguatera Fish Poisoning
• Dengue  
• Diphtheria
• Domoic Acid poisoning (Amnesic Shellfish Poisoning)
• Escherichia coli: shiga toxin producing (STEC) including E. coli O157 infection
• Foodborne illness (2 or more cases from different households)
• Hantavirus infections
• Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome
• Meningococcal infections
• Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning
• Plague* (Human or Animal)
• Rabies (Human or Animal)
• Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
• Shiga toxin (in feces)
• Scombroid Fish Poisoning
• Smallpox* (Variola)
• Tularemia*
• Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers* (e.g. Crimean-Congo, Ebola, Lassa, and Marburg viruses)
• Yellow Fever
• Any unusual diseases
• New diseases or syndrome not previously recognized
• Outbreaks of any disease

Within one working day report by phone or fax

• Amebiasis
• Babesiosis
• Campylobacteriosis
• Chickenpox (only hospitalization and death)
• Colorado Tick Fever
• Cryptosporidiosis
• Encephalitis, infectious (specify etiology)
• Haemophilus influenzae invasive disease (less than 15 years of age)
• Hepatitis A
• Listeriosis
• Malaria
• Measles (Rubeola)
• Meningitis (specify etiology)
• Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
• Poliovirus infections 
• Psittacosis
• Q Fever
• Relapsing Fever
• Salmonellosis (other than Typhoid fever)
• Shigellosis
• Staphylococcus aureus infections, severe (ICU/death) in a previously healthy person
• Streptococcal Infections, outbreaks of any type and individual cases in food handlers and dairy workers only
• Syphilis, Report to STD Clinic
• Trichinosis
• Tuberculosis, Report to TB Clinic
• Typhoid fever (cases and carriers)
• Vibrio infections
• Water-associated disease (e.g. Swimmer's Itch and Hot Tub Rash)
• West Nile Virus
• Yersiniosis

Within 7 calendar days report by phone, fax, or mail

• Anaplasmosis/Ehrlichiosis
• Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), Report to AIDS Office
• Alzheimer's Diseases and Related Conditions
• Animal Bites (mammals only), Report to Animal Care & Control
• Chancroid, Report to STD Clinic
• Chlamydia trachomatis infections, Report to STD Clinic
• Coccidioidomycosis
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
• Cysticercosis
• Disorders Characterized by Lapses of Consciousness
• Ehrlichiosis/Anaplasmosis
• Giardiasis
• Gonococcal infections, Report to STD Clinic
• Hepatitis, Viral
• Hepatitis B (specify acute case or chronic)
• Hepatitis C (specify acute case or chronic)
• Hepatitis D (Delta)
• Hepatitis, other acute
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Report to AIDS Office
• Influenza Deaths (less than 18 years of age only)
• Kawasaki Syndrome (Mucocutaneous Lymph Node Syndrome)
• Legionellosis
• Leprosy (Hansen Disease)
• Leptospirosis
• Lyme Disease
• Lymphogranuloma venereum, Report to STD Clinic
• Mumps
• Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), Report to STD Clinic
• Rheumatic Fever, acute
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
• Rubella (German Measles)
• Rubella Congenital Syndrome
• Taeniasis
• Tetanus
• Toxic Shock Syndrome
• Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE)
• Typhus fever

* Potential Bioterrorism Agents