- Home
- Government
- Departments G - Z
- Health Department
- Communicable Disease
Communicable Disease
A Dictionary of Epidemiology defines communicable disease as "illness due to a specific infectious agent or its toxic products that arises through transmission of that agent or its products from an infected person, animal, or reservoir to a susceptible host, either directly or indirectly through an intermediate plant or animal host, vector, or the inanimate environment." Communicable disease pathogens include bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites and prions.
Burke County Health Department is a voice and platform for communicable disease prevention, surveillance, intervention, outbreak management, and community education. The Communicable Disease program investigates reportable diseases that are required by NC Department of Health and Human Services to prevent disease outbreak.
Physicians, school administrators and childcare operators, medical facilities and operators of restaurants and other food or drink establishments (G.S. § 130A-135 through 130A-139) must report cases or suspected cases of reportable diseases to their local health department, which in turn reports this information to the N.C. Division of Public Health (G.S. § 103A-140). Laboratories may report to the local health department, except in the case of syphilis results, which the laboratories must report directly to the Communicable Disease Branch or the nearest regional office (10A NCAC 41A .0102).
NCDHHS Communicable Disease Report Form
NCDHHS Mandatory Reportable Diseases
The Communicable Disease team at Burke County Health Department are advocates for health equity acknowledging that communicable disease coincides with social determinants of health. With this, the communicable disease team is working with community members, stakeholders, and organizations to provide communicable disease outreach services to individuals who may not otherwise be able to reach the office. If you feel you need to talk to a member of the Communicable Disease team, don’t hesitate to reach out during office hours Monday through Friday 8am-5pm during business hours.