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GuidelinesEML (Adult Hospital STG)

Disease Notification Procedures

Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Medicines List for South Africa, Hospital Level, Adults 2019 Edition

Who should notify

Which diseases to notify

Reporting a Notifiable Disease during an outbreak

Priority reporting of MDR & XDR-TB

How to notify

List of Notifiable Medical Conditions

The disease reporting system in South Africa is based on government law (the Health Act, Act No. 61 of 2003), together with regulations on the reporting of specific diseases to the Local, Provincial and/or National Health Department.

Who should notify?

  • The first health care professional to come into contact with a patient presenting with one of the prescribed Notifiable Medical Conditions (NMCs) is required by law to notify. 
  • This may include clinic personnel, infection control nurses, other hospital staff or private medical practitioners.
  • In the event of deaths (or cases) in the community, a member of the community is obliged to notify the event.

Which diseases to notify

  • Currently 33 broad medical conditions are currently notifiable in South Africa (see List of Notifiable Medical Condition). 
  • Some conditions (e.g. tuberculosis and viral hepatitis) have been divided into various components, resulting in more than 40 notifiable medical conditions.

Notifiable medical conditions have been sub-divided into two categories according to type of disease:

Category 1 NMC:

  • Requires immediate reporting by the most rapid means available upon clinical or laboratory diagnosis followed by a written or electronic notification to the Department of Health, within 24 hours of diagnosis by health care providers, private health laboratories or public health laboratories.
  • Any health care professional identifying even a single case of disease (presumptive or laboratory confirmed) contained in the Category 1 should make an immediate notification directly to the designated local health officer through fax or telephonically as rapidly as possible (within 24 hours). 
  • The local health officer must report to the Provincial health officer and/or to the National Department of Health.
  • Where it is applicable, laboratory confirmation should be obtained at the earliest opportunity and also reported to the designated health office.
  • After reporting through a telephone/fax, it is still required of the health care provider to send a complete GW17/5 form to the designated local health authority within five days after telephonic reporting.

Category 2 NMC:

  • Requires reporting through a written or electronic notification to the Department of Health, within 7 days of diagnosis by health care providers, private health laboratories or public health laboratories.
  • The notification system is based on clinical notifications and, therefore, all suspected cases of a notifiable condition must be notified immediately.

Reporting a Notifiable Disease during an outbreak

  • During an outbreak of a notifiable disease, report all cases by phone, email or fax.
  • Daily reporting by health facilities should be maintained through an Outbreak Case Line Listing Form as well as through the notification form (GW17/5) to the local health authority that must report to the provincial health officials and the National Department of Health.

Priority of reporting MDR & XDR-TB

  • Tuberculosis (TB) is one of 33 medical conditions, which is notifiable in terms of the National Health Act (Act 61 of 2003).
  • The Directorate: Epidemiology and Surveillance have instituted a priority reporting for MDR and XDR TB.
  • This means that all health care facilities, public and private, including clinics, hospitals, laboratories, general practitioners and private specialist doctors, are required to report all cases of MDR and XDR TB to the Department of Health within 24 hours.

How to notify

  • The initial notification of a medical condition is done on a case-based form (GW17/5) with the relevant details by the health personnel e.g., clinic personnel, infection control nurses, other hospital staff, public or private medical practitioners. 
  • Initial notification makes tracing as easy as possible, since a disease notification demands action (follow-up) at the peripheral level.
  • The GW17/5 form makes provision for the notification of cases as well as deaths.
  • Any person contracting a notifiable disease and then dies from the disease should be notified twice: first as a "CASE" and then later as a "DEATH". 
  • This will ensure that when estimated the "Case Fatality Rate" (CFR%), all deaths in the numerator are also included in the denominator.
  • Depending on the structural organization of the province, the completed GW17/5 forms is sent to the relevant local health authority, district health office or the provincial office.
  • Electronic reporting can also be done via the NMC mobile or web based APP.

National Department of Health
Cluster: Health Information, Evaluation & Research (HIER)
Directorate: Epidemiology & Surveillance
Private Bag X828
PRETORIA
0001
Tel: 012 395 8150/1

National NMC contact details:
Helpline: 072 621 3805
Fax no: 086 639 1638
Sms/whatsup line (for copy/photograph submissions): 072 621 3805
Email address: NMCsurveillanceReport@nicd.ac.za

LIST OF NOTIFIABLE MEDICAL CONDITIONS

Category 1: Immediate notification (within 24 hours) of diagnosis

  • Acute flaccid paralysis
  • Acute rheumatic fever
  • Anthrax
  • Botulism
  • Cholera
  • Diptheria
  • Food borne disease outbreak*
  • Haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS)
  • Listeriosis
  • Malaria
  • Measles
  • Meningococcal disease
  • Pertussis
  • Plague
  • Poliomyelitis
  • Rabies (human)
  • Respiratory disease caused by a novel respiratory pathogen**
  • Rift valley fever (human)
  • Smallpox
  • Viral haemorrhagic fever diseases***
  • Yellow fever

Category 2: Notification within seven days of diagnosis

Standard Treatment Guidelines and Essential Medicines List for South Africa, Hospital Level, Adults 2019 Edition

NeoHealth® ID 17620 · updated 9/15/2021