Reportables

Reportables are diseases or health events that must be reported to public health authorities under law or regulation. The term is commonly used to describe notifiable diseases and related conditions; a jurisdiction's list of reportables and the required reporting methods vary, but typically include certain infectious diseases, outbreaks, and other conditions deemed important for surveillance.

The primary purpose of reporting is to enable systematic surveillance, rapid outbreak detection, and monitoring of disease burden. Reportable data support public health decisions, resource allocation, and preventive actions. Reports are generally handled with privacy protections; access to identifiable information is restricted to authorized personnel and used in aggregate form for surveillance and research.

Reporting is typically initiated by clinicians or laboratories and may be required to be done electronically or on paper. Requirements specify who must report, what must be reported, and the time frame (often immediate or within 24–72 hours). Common data elements include patient demographics, diagnosis or lab result, date of onset, location, and reporter contact information. Some jurisdictions impose penalties for noncompliance.

Practice varies: in the United States, individual states maintain their own lists of notifiable diseases; examples include measles, tuberculosis, and salmonellosis, among others. Other countries maintain similar systems. In addition to infectious diseases, some systems require reporting of unusual clusters, outbreaks, or adverse public health events. Occupational safety contexts also use the term “reportable” to describe incident reporting to regulators, though these are separate from health-notification systems.