Persons Required to Report Disease:
Infectious Disease Reporting

Modified 9/27/2024

On this page:
Who is required to report
Out of state reporting
Other reporting
Information to report

Who is required to report

• Health care practitioners (health care facilities, medical laboratories, and in certain circumstances veterinarians and veterinary medical laboratories) are required to report disease to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) under Minnesota state law.
  • Unless previously reported, every licensed health care provider who provides care to any patient who has, is suspected of having, or has died from a reportable disease is required to report.
• Any person in charge of any institution, school, child care facility, or camp is also required to report disease to MDH.

More information about persons required to report disease:

Submitter:

• A submitter is any health care provider or laboratory that collects and submits clinical materials to the Minnesota Department of Health under this rule.

Health care practitioners:

• "Health care practitioner" means a Minnesota-licensed doctor of medicine, a Minnesota-licensed physician assistant acting within the scope of authorized practice, or a Minnesota-licensed advanced practice registered nurse or a certified nurse midwife who has the primary responsibility for the care and treatment of a person.

Health care facilities:

• Hospitals, nursing homes, medical clinics, or other health care facilities shall designate:
  • all individual health care practitioners report
  • or an infection control practitioner (or other person as responsible) to report
    "Infection control practitioner" means a person designated by a hospital, nursing home, medical clinic, or other health care facility as having responsibility for prevention, detection, reporting, and control
    of infections within the facility.

Medical laboratories:

• "Medical laboratory" means a facility that receives, forwards, or analyzes specimens of original material from the human body, or referred cultures of specimens obtained from the human body, and reports the results to a health care practitioner who uses the data for purposes of patient care.
• Within one working day of completion, all medical laboratories should provide:
  • the results of microbiologic cultures, examinations, immunologic assays for the presence of antigens and antibodies, and any other laboratory tests, which are indicative of the presence of any reportable disease
  • all clinical materials specified upon a positive laboratory finding for the disease or condition, or upon request in relation to a case or suspected case
  • the results of all CD4+ lymphocyte counts and percents and the results of all HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C viral detection laboratory tests
  • all medical laboratories that perform genetic sequencing for any diseases listed should submit sequence data upon request

Veterinarians and veterinary medical laboratories:

• “Veterinarian” means any person who is licensed by the Minnesota Board of Veterinary Medicine to practice veterinary medicine.
• Certain reports of clinical diagnosis of disease in animals, reports of laboratory tests on animals, and clinical materials from animals, when:
  • the disease is common to both animals and humans
  • the disease may be transmitted directly or indirectly to and between humans and animals
  • the persons who are afflicted with the disease are likely to suffer complications, disability, or death as a result
  • investigation based upon veterinarian and veterinary medical laboratory reports will assist in the prevention and control of disease among humans

Comprehensive reporting:

• An institution, facility, or clinic, staffed by health care practitioners and having medical laboratories that are required to report, may upon written notification to the commissioner designate a single person or group of persons to report.

Out of state reporting:

• Persons and entities that are required to report and that send clinical materials out of state for testing are responsible for ensuring that results are reported and clinical materials are submitted as required.
• If a medical laboratory forwards clinical materials out of state for testing, the originating medical laboratory retains the duty to comply, either by:
  • reporting the results and submitting the clinical materials
  • or ensuring that the results are reported and materials submitted
     
• Cases, suspected cases, carriers, and deaths due to disease acquired outside the state: 
  • A health care practitioner shall report cases, suspected cases, carriers, and deaths due to any infectious disease that a physician health care practitioner determines has been acquired outside the state and that is considered: rare or unusual in Minnesota; or a public health problem in the geographic area of presumed acquisition.

Other reporting:

• Unless previously reported, it is the duty of every other licensed health care provider who provides care to any patient who has or suspected case, as much of the information known.
• It is the duty of any person in charge of any institution, school, child care facility or camp, or any other person having knowledge of any disease which may threaten the public health, to report immediately the name and date of birth (and any other information listed) of a person or deceased person suspected of having the disease.

Information to report:

• Please be prepared with as much of the following information as is known:
  • disease (whether a case, suspected case, carrier, or death)
  • date of first symptoms
  • primary signs and symptoms
  • patient name, birthdate, gender, ethnic and racial origin, residence address (including city, county, and zip code), telephone number, place of work/school/child care
  • date of report
  • health care practitioner name, address, and telephone number
  • name of hospital (if any)
  • name of person reporting (if not health care practitioner)
  • diagnostic laboratory findings and dates of tests
  • name and locating information of contacts (if any)
  • vaccination history for the disease reported
  • pregnancy status and expected date of delivery, if the infection can be transmitted during pregnancy or delivery
  • other information pertinent to the case