Diseases Reportable to Public Health

Health professionals and public health work together to help prevent the spread of communicable diseases in our communities. The Health Protection and Promotion Act outlines which communicable diseases are designated as diseases of public health significance in Ontario.

Report a disease to HPPH

To report a disease, call us Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If it is after-hours, and the disease is one to be reported immediately, please call the following:

Perth: 1-800-431-2054 or Huron: 519-482-7077

Fax follow-up reports to Perth: 519-271-2195 or Huron: 519-482-9014

Diseases to report immediately

Report these diseases immediately, even if they are only considered to be “suspect cases”:

  • Anthrax
  • Botulism
  • Brucellosis
  • Chickenpox (Varicella), if hospitalized
  • Clostridium difficile infection, outbreaks in institutions and public hospitals
  • Cyclosporiasis
  • Diphtheria
  • E. coli (see Verotoxin-producing E. coli)
  • Food poisoning, all causes
  • Gastroenteritis, outbreaks in institutions and public hospitals
  • Group A Streptococcal disease, invasive
  • Haemophilus Influenzae disease, all types, invasive
  • Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
  • Hemorrhagic fevers, including Ebola virus, Lassa fever, Marburg disease and other viral causes
  • Hepatitis A, viral
  • Influenza, novel, not seasonal, lab confirmed
  • Legionellosis
  • Listeriosis
  • Measles
  • Meningitis, acute, including bacterial, viral and other causes
  • Meningococcal disease, invasive
  • Mumps
  • Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP)
  • Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
  • Plague
  • Poliomyelitis, acute
  • Rabies, human cases
  • Rabies that could result from animal bite or contact – call extension 252 and fax report to 519-271-2785
  • Respiratory infection outbreaks in institutions and public hospitals, including influenza
  • Rubella
  • Salmonellosis
  • Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
  • Shigellosis
  • Smallpox
  • Tuberculosis, active disease
  • Tularemia
  • Verotoxin-producing E. coli infection, including Haemolytic Ureamic Syndrome (HUS)

Diseases to report within one business day

Please report the following diseases to HPPH within one business day:

  • Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
  • Acute Flaccid Paralysis
  • Amebiasis
  • Blastomycosis
  • Campylobacter enteritis
  • Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE), infection or colonization
  • Chancroid
  • Chickenpox (Varicella), community cases
  • Chlamydia trachomatis infections
  • Cholera
  • Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease, all types
  • Cryptosporidiosis
  • Echinococcus multilocularis infection
  • Encephalitis, including primary viral, post-infectious, vaccine related, sub-acute sclerosing panencephalitis and unspecified
  • Giardiasis, except asymptomatic cases
  • Gonorrhoea
  • Group B Streptococcal disease, neonatal
  • Hepatitis B, viral
  • Hepatitis C, viral
  • Influenza, seasonal, community cases
  • Leprosy
  • Lyme disease
  • Ophthalmia neonatorum
  • Paratyphoid Fever
  • Pneumococcal disease, invasive (see streptococcal pneumoniae, invasive)
  • Psittacosis or Ornithosis
  • Q Fever
  • Rubella, congenital syndrome
  • Streptococcal pneumoniae, invasive
  • Syphilis
  • Tetanus
  • Trichinosis
  • Tuberculosis, latent infection (positive TB skin test)
  • Typhoid Fever
  • West Nile Virus illness
  • Yersiniosis