Reporting

Reporting Guidelines

Health professionals, facilities, and laboratories report communicable diseases as required by state law to local health departments. Qualified Health Department staff provide investigations of the cases and report the communicable diseases to the state office, which reports to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

To speak to a member of the NKY Health Epidemiology Department, call 859-363-2070.

To report cases after hours or to talk to the on-call epidemiology staff member, please call 859-391-5357.

Click below for specific reporting information

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)

Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)

Healthcare-Associated Infections

When you call to report a disease, please have the following information:

Name of disease
Person’s name, birth date, address, and telephone number
Date of onset of symptoms
Physician’s name and telephone number

Providers may also use the Kentucky reportable disease form to report certain illnesses. Please note that this form is to be used by health professionals only. Completed forms should be faxed to 859-363-2057.

Reporting Requirements

Kentucky law (902 KAR 2:020) requires health professionals to report certain diseases to the local health departments serving the jurisdiction in which the patient resides.

Providers should also report unexpected patterns of cases, suspected cases, or deaths that may indicate a newly recognized infectious disease agent.

To see the most up-to-date list, please click here: Kentucky Department of Health Amended Table of Reportable Diseases

For more information about classifying specific disease cases, please visit the CDC's case definitions page.

Child Care and School Facilities

Good communication between child care providers, parents, and health departments plays a major role in preventing the spread of communicable diseases. The sooner everyone is notified, the faster the spread of disease can be controlled.

School and child care staff should contact NKY Health with any illness or outbreak concerns.

It’s important that:

Parents let child care providers know when their child is diagnosed with a contagious disease.
Providers check with the Health Department for any special control measures and maintain communication throughout an outbreak.
Child care providers let parents know whenever contagious diseases are found in children attending their programs, so parents know what types of symptoms to look for or if they need to get shots or medicines for their children.

Parents can also help stop the spread of communicable diseases by telling the child care provider whenever their child is diagnosed with a contagious disease.