Reportable Diseases in California: Deadlines, Filing, and Penalties

Reportable diseases in California are the roughly 80 communicable and non-communicable conditions that health care providers and laboratories must notify to the local health officer under Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations. Each condition sits in one of three urgency tiers: immediate telephone report, one working day, or seven calendar days. Missing a deadline is a misdemeanor and a citable offense before the Medical Board.

The Three Reporting Clocks

Every reportable condition is marked in the regulations with a symbol that tells you how fast to act and which methods of notification are allowed.¹

Immediate Telephone Report

The most urgent tier must be reported by phone the moment the case is identified or suspected. These are containment emergencies. Anthrax, plague, novel influenza strains, botulism, and invasive meningococcal disease all fall here.² Two broader triggers also sit in this tier: any occurrence of an unusual disease, and any outbreak of any disease, even one not on the main list. A single case of a disease long absent from a population, or the first appearance of a condition never previously recognized locally, counts as an outbreak for this purpose.¹

One Working Day

Second-tier conditions must be reported within one working day of identification by phone, fax, or electronic transmission. Salmonellosis, acute hepatitis A, pertussis, and measles are examples.² Acute HIV infection also sits in this tier, but the report must go by telephone specifically; fax and electronic submission are not allowed for that one.

Seven Calendar Days

Everything else on the list falls into the seven-calendar-day tier and may be submitted by mail, phone, or electronic transmission. Lyme disease, chronic hepatitis B, chronic hepatitis C, and campylobacteriosis are common examples.²

Who Has to File

Title 17 defines “health care provider” broadly. The duty falls on physicians and surgeons, veterinarians, podiatrists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, registered nurses, nurse midwives, school nurses, infection control practitioners, medical examiners, coroners, and dentists.¹ Any of these professionals who knows of or is attending a case, or a suspected case, must report it.

Laboratories carry a separate, independent duty under section 2505. When a clinical, public health, or veterinary lab identifies evidence of a reportable disease through culture, molecular testing, serology, or other methods, the lab director or designee must report the finding directly to the local health officer for the patient’s county of residence.³ A single case typically generates two reports: one from the treating provider, one from the lab.

Administrators of hospitals, clinics, and other health facilities must set up internal procedures that keep their staff on schedule. That institutional duty runs alongside each individual provider’s personal obligation, so a facility-level breakdown does not excuse the clinician who saw the patient.

How and Where to File

The standard tool for providers is the Confidential Morbidity Report, CDPH form 110a, which captures patient demographics, diagnosis details, and provider contact information.⁴ Reports go to the local health officer in the jurisdiction where the patient lives, not where the diagnosis was made. For an immediate-tier condition, the phone call comes first and the written form follows as documentation.

Most jurisdictions accept reports through CalREDIE, the secure electronic system CDPH operates for 24/7 submission and near-real-time case data for local health departments.⁵ CalREDIE also routes data from local departments up to the state for surveillance. Dedicated forms exist for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and conditions reportable to the DMV, so those cases should not go on the standard CMR.

Reports That Follow Their Own Rules

A few categories do not quite fit the general framework and are easy to miss.

HIV uses name-based reporting, so the patient’s full name goes on the report rather than a coded identifier. Providers must submit a confirmed HIV test to the local health officer within seven calendar days of receiving the lab result, using the HIV/AIDS Case Report form rather than the standard CMR. The report goes to the jurisdiction where the provider’s facility is located, not where the patient lives.⁶

Pesticide poisoning is reportable, and failing to report it carries a standalone $250 civil fine per violation under Health and Safety Code section 105200, with multiple employees exposed in a single incident counted as one violation.⁷ Occupational lead poisoning, specific birth defects, and certain cancers tracked through the California Cancer Registry also appear on the list, most in the seven-day tier.

Animal disease reporting is handled separately. Licensed veterinarians, diagnostic lab operators, and anyone who recognizes or should recognize a reportable condition in an animal must notify the California Department of Food and Agriculture under Title 3, with deadlines set by the State Veterinarian for each condition on the list.⁸ A veterinarian who also sees a human-transmissible condition still has to report separately to the local health officer under Title 17.

Reporting Does Not Violate Patient Privacy

Both state and federal law authorize these disclosures without patient consent. The California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act permits release of medical information to local health departments for preventing or controlling disease, conducting public health surveillance and investigations, and reporting vital events.⁹ The HIPAA Privacy Rule contains a matching carve-out that lets covered entities share protected health information with public health authorities authorized by law to collect it.¹⁰

The HIPAA public health exception has a limit. Covered entities must still follow the minimum necessary standard, meaning only the information needed for the public health purpose should go into the report, not an entire medical record.¹¹ Information collected through mandatory reporting is restricted to public health surveillance, investigation, and control, and cannot be reused for law enforcement or civil litigation.

Penalties for Failing to Report

Failure to report is a misdemeanor under Health and Safety Code section 120295, punishable by a fine between $50 and $1,000, up to 90 days in jail, or both. Each day the violation continues counts as a separate offense, so the exposure stacks fast.¹²

Licensed providers also face professional consequences. Failure to report is a citable offense under the Medical Board of California’s citation and fine program, which lets the Board issue an administrative citation without opening a full disciplinary case.² Physicians who miss a pesticide poisoning report incur the additional $250 civil penalty per incident under section 105200, on top of the general misdemeanor exposure.⁷

1
Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 17 Section 2500 – Reporting to the Local Health Authority
2
California Department of Public Health. Reportable Diseases and Conditions in California
3
Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 17 Section 2505 – Notification by Laboratories
4
California Department of Public Health. Confidential Morbidity Report (CDPH 110a)
5
California Department of Public Health. CalREDIE
6
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 17 CCR 2643.5 – HIV Reporting by Health Care Providers
7
California Legislative Information. California Health and Safety Code 105200
8
Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 3 Section 797 – List of Reportable Conditions for Animals and Animal Products
9
California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code 56.10
10
eCFR. 45 CFR 164.512
11
HHS.gov. Disclosures for Public Health Activities
12
California Legislative Information. California Code Health and Safety Code 120295