Reporting Communicable Diseases
The day care licensing rules through Wisconsin Statutes requires child caregivers to report communicable diseases to your local health department. This early reporting will provide the necessary information needed to contact the family and begin an investigation to help control further spread of the disease. Below is a list of diseases which are reportable and the action you should take.
Communicable Diseases Required to be Reported by Day Care Directors or Teachers
(Most common are in bold print.)
Category I:
The following diseases are of urgent public health importance. Report them immediately by telephone to your local health department upon identification of a case or suspected case. See Public Health State Statute 252.05 and 252.21.
| Anthrax | Pertussis (whooping cough) |
| Botulism | Plague |
| Botulism, infant | Poliomyelitis |
| Cholera | Rabies (human) |
| Diphtheria | Rubella |
| Food or Water-Borne Outbreaks | Rubella (congenital syndrome) |
| Hepatitis, Viral Type A | Tuberculosis |
| Measles | Yellow Fever |
Category II:
The following diseases shall be reported to the local health department by individual case report form or by telephone with 72 hours of the identification of a case or suspected case. See State Statute; HSS 145.04(3)(b). However, most health departments would like to learn of these diseases immediately as some diseases require prompt notification of close contacts in order to recommend preventive medication or vaccine which can be given to prevent disease spread.
| Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) | Mumps |
| Amebiasis | Nontuberculous mycobacterial disease (specify type) |
| Blastomycosis | Psittacosis |
| Brucellosis | Q Fever |
| Campylobacter enteritis | Reye Syndrome |
| Cryptosporidiosis* | Rheumatic fever (newly diagnosed) |
| Encephalitis, viral (specify type) | Rocky mountain spotted fever |
| E. coli (0157:H7) | Salmonellosis |
| Giardiasis | Sexually
transmitted diseases - Chancroid - Chlamydia trachomatis - Genital herpes infection (first clinical episode only) - Gonorrhea - Granuloma inguinale - Lymphogranuloma venereum - Nongonococcal cervicitis - Nongonococcal urethritis - Sexually transmitted pelvic inflammatory disease - Syphilis |
| Hepatitis, viral C, D, E Types B, or unspecified | Shigellosis |
| Histoplasmosis | Tetanus |
| Kawasaki disease | Toxic-shock syndrome |
| Legionnaires' disease | Toxic substance
related diseases - Infant methemoglobinemia - Lead intoxication (specify lead levels) - Other metal poisonings - Other organic chemical poisonings - Pesticide poisoning |
| Leprosy | Toxoplasmosis |
| Leptospirosis | Trichinosis |
| Lyme disease | Tularemia |
| Malaria | Typhoid Fever |
| Meningitis, aseptic (specify type) | Typhus Fever |
| Meningitis, bacterial (specify type) | Yersiniosis |
| Meningococcal disease | Suspected outbreaks of other acute or occupationally-related diseases (any diseases occurring in amounts above what is normal for your center). |
Category III:
The total number of cases or suspected cases of Chickenpox shall be reported on a weekly basis. (It is not necessary to identify name and other information about persons with Chickenpox.)
What to Do to Report
Diseases
For diseases in Categories I, II and III, follow the procedure
below:
- Call your local public health department.
- Identify your day care center.
- Report both caregiver and child illnesses (caregivers include anyone who provides regular, substitute or volunteer care and/or anyone who prepares food for consumption by center staff and children).
- Give the following
information for each case (Categories I and II only):
- Name of the ill person
- Physician of ill person, if known
- Diagnosed or suspected disease
- Address and telephone of ill person
- Age or date of birth of ill person
- Race and ethnicity of ill person
- County of residence of ill person
- Date of onset of illness, if known
- Name of parent or guardian, if a minor
- Immunization history, if the disease is a vaccine-preventable disease
Phone and address for local public health agencies are listed in the governmental agency section of your phone book under "health" or "public health."