Notification of infectious diseases and related conditions

*Diseases marked with an asterisk require urgent telephone notification. See 'How to notify' below for contact details.

• Acute post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis (APSGN)*
• Acute rheumatic fever
• Adverse event following immunisation
• Amoebic meningoencephalitis*
• Anthrax*
• Australian bat lyssavirus *
• Avian influenza in humans (bird flu)*
• Barmah Forest virus infection
• Botulism*
• Brucellosis
• Candida auris infection or colonisation
• Candida auris infection
• Carbapenemase-producing organism (CPO) infection or colonisation
• Chancroid
• Chickenpox
• Chikungunya virus infection
• Chlamydia trachomatis infection (sexually acquired)
• Cholera*
• COVID-19
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (classical or variant)
• Cryptosporidiosis
• Dengue virus infection
• Diphtheria*
• Donovanosis
• Ebola virus infection*
• Flavivirus infection - unspecified
• Gastroenteritis: due to food or water-borne infectious disease in two or more linked cases*
• Gonococcal infection
• Haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS)*
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) infection (invasive)*
• Hendra virus infection *
• Hepatitis A*
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• Hepatitis D
• Hepatitis E
• Human coronavirus with pandemic potential (including novel coronavirus)*
• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
• Influenza
• Invasive group A streptococcal disease (iGAS)
• Japanese encephalitis virus infection*
• Legionellosis*
• Leprosy
• Leptospirosis
• Listeriosis*
• Lymphogranuloma venereum
• Lyssavirus infection (including rabies Australian bat lyssavirus and other lyssavirus infection)*
• Malaria
• Measles*
• Melioidosis
• Meningococcal infection (invasive)*
• Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection or colonisation
• Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV)*
• Monkeypox virus infection (mpox)*
• Mumps
• Murray Valley encephalitis virus infection*
• Paratyphoid fever*
• Pertussis (whooping cough)
• Plague*
• Pneumococcal infection (invasive)
• Poliovirus infection*
• Psittacosis (ornithosis)
• Q fever
• Rabies and other lyssavirus (including Australian bat lyssavirus) *
• Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection
• Rheumatic heart disease
• Rickettsia infection (including spotted fevers and typhus fever)
• Ross River virus infection
• Rotavirus infection
• Rubella and congenital rubella syndrome*
• Salmonella infection
• Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)*
• Shiga toxin producing Escherichia. coli (STEC) infection
• Shigellosis
• Shingles
• Smallpox*
• Syphilis (all stages and congenital)
• Tetanus*
• Tuberculosis
• Tularaemia *
• Typhoid fever*
• Vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) infection or colonisation
• Varicella-zoster virus infection (chickenpox and shingles)
• Vibrio parahaemolyticus infection
• Viral haemorrhagic fevers (including Crimean-Congo, Ebola, Lassa and Marburg viruses)*
• West Nile virus/Kunjin virus infection*
• Yellow fever*
• Yersinia infection 
• Zika virus infection

The information that should be notified is specified in the appropriate Department of Health notification form below:

• Online infectious and related disease notification form and Frequently Asked Questions (PDF 159KB) 
  • Metropolitan downtime form (PDF 305KB)
  • Rural downtime form (PDF 305KB)
• Acute rheumatic fever notification form (Printable PDF 391KB), (Online PDF 498KB) to the WA RHD Register and Control Program
• HIV notification form (PDF 112KB)
• Adverse event following immunisation notification form (external site)

For some diseases (for example hepatitis C, gonorrhoea, tuberculosis, meningococcal disease, pneumococcal disease) additional information such as risk factors and antibiotic sensitivities are collected subsequent to the original notification using forms specific for each disease. Public health staff coordinate the collection of the enhanced surveillance data and contact doctors, laboratories and/or patients, as appropriate.

Cases of notifiable infectious diseases can be notified online, by mail, fax or phone:

Online:

For cases residing in the Perth metropolitan area or in a regional area, notifications can be submitted online using this form: Online infectious and related disease notification form (external site)

By mail:

For cases residing in the Perth metropolitan area, please post the notification form to:
Communicable Disease Control Directorate
PO Box 8172, Perth Business Centre WA 6849
For cases residing in regional areas, please post the notification form to the appropriate regional Public Health Unit

OR

By fax:

Please fax the notification form to the Communicable Disease Control Directorate (Perth metropolitan area) on 08 9222 0254 or the appropriate regional Public Health Unit

OR

For diseases that require urgent notification

• During office hours, Monday-Friday: Phone the Communicable Disease Control Directorate (metropolitan area) on 08 9222 0255 or the appropriate regional Public Health Unit
• After hours and weekends: For notification of urgent diseases or for urgent public health advice only, phone 1800 434 122 and ask to speak with the On-Call Public Health Physician.

The statutory requirement to notify communicable diseases and related conditions is specified in the Public Health Act 2016 (Part 9) (external site) and the Public Health Regulations 2017.

The medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who attends the patient is responsible for notification.

In situations where two or more practitioners may be involved in a patient’s management and it is not clear if the case has already been notified, the case should be reported.

Pathologists responsible for pathology laboratories where cases of notifiable infectious diseases are diagnosed are also responsible for notification.

Notification by attending medical and/or nurse practitioners and laboratories is important to ensure complete ascertainment of cases and because the information available from the two sources is complementary. This ensures optimal ascertainment of all cases. Duplicate checking procedures by the Department will detect any multiple notifications.