National Notifiable Diseases

Communicable diseases (CDs) are made notifiable in the provinces and territories of Canada by provincial and territorial statute. The list of notifiable diseases at the federal level is agreed upon by consensus among provincial, territorial and federal health authorities. The purpose of making a specific CD reportable is to facilitate both tracking and required control efforts by public health personnel. In addition, the NND list helps to promote uniformity and synergy among the provincial and territorial efforts and conformity with international reporting requirements. The changing epidemiology of infectious diseases necessitates a review of and modification to the NND list on a periodic basis. The review consists of a priority-setting exercise and is undertaken by a federal/provincial/territorial working group. The priority-setting exercise results in some previously notifiable diseases being removed from the list and new communicable diseases added. The reader should refer to Table 1 to determine the years in which a specific communicable disease has been reportable.

Table 1 presents the year in which the notifiable disease became “notifiable”.

Table 2 presents notifiable diseases which have few or no reported cases.

Table 1: Current List of Nationally Notifiable Diseases and Year the First Positive Report was Recorded

Disease First Positive Case (Year)

Acute Flaccid Paralysis 2000 -

AIDS 1986 -

Amoebiasis 1927 - 1999

Anthrax 2002 -

Botulism 1933, 1940 -

Brucellosis 1928 -

Campylobacteriosis 1986 -

Chancroid 1979 - 1999

Chickenpox 1924 to 1959, 1986 -

Chlamydia, Genital 1990 -

Cholera 1974 -

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease 2000 -

Cryptosporidiosis 2000 -

Cyclosporiasis 2000 -

Diphtheria 1924 -

Giardiasis 1983 -

Gonorrhea 1924 -

Gonococcal Ophthalmia Neonatorum 1979 - 1999

Group B Streptococcal Disease of the Newborn 2000 -

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome 2000 -

Hepatitis A 1927 to 1958, 1969 -

Hepatitis B 1969 -

Hepatitis C 1991 -

Hepatitis Non-A, Non-B 1983 - 1999

Human Immonodeficiency Virus 2000 -

Influenza,Laboratory-Confirmed 2000 -

Invasive Haemophilus influenzae type b Disease 1979 -

Invasive Group A Streptococcal Disease 2000 -

Invasive Meningococcal Disease 1924 -

Invasive Pneumococcal Disease 2000 -

Legionellosis 1986 -

Leprosy 1925 -

Listeriosis (all types) 1990 - 1999

Malaria 1929 to 1978, 1983 -

Measles 1924 -

Meningitis, Pneumococcal 1979 - 1999

Meningitis, Other Bacterial 1979 - 1999

Meningitis, Viral 1952 - 1999

Mumps 1924 to 1959, 1986 -

Paratyphoid 1924 to 1952, 1969 - 1999

Pertussis 1924 -

Plague*

Poliomyelitis 1924 -

Rabies 1927 -

Rubella 1924 -

Rubella, Congenital 1979 -

Salmonellosis 1958 -

Shigellosis 1924 -

Smallpox 2002 -

Syphilis, All 1924 - 1978

Syphilis, Congenital 1992 -

Syphilis, Early Latent 1992 -

Syphilis, Early Symptomatic (Primary and Secondary) 1979 -

Syphilis, Other 1924 -

Tetanus 1957 -

Tuberculosis 1924 -

Tularemia 2002 -

Trichinosis 1929 - 1999

Typhoid 1924 to 1952, 1969 -

Verotoxigenic E. coli 1990 -

Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers
(Crimean Congo, Ebola, Lassa, Margurg) 2002 -

West Nile Virus Asymptomatic Infection 2003 -

West Nile Virus Fever 2003 -

West Nile Virus Neurological Syndromes 2003 -

West Nile Virus Unclassified/Unspecified 2003 -

Yellow Fever*

* The notifiable disease database has never received a report of plague or yellow fever.

Disease-specific technical notes

Each notifiable disease provides a brief discussion on the limitations of the data unique to the notifiable disease. The limitations have a direct bearing on the analyses and interpretation of the data; accordingly, any data manipulations should be discussed within the context of the limitations of the data. The technical notes will vary from disease to disease, and may discuss such limitations as under reporting, timeliness of reporting, disease case definitions, and passive surveillance.

List of notifiable diseases which have few or no cases reported

The interactive table, chart and mapping functions are not enabled for the following notifiable diseases because the number of reported cases has been non existent or too low over time to enable meaningful analyses. Some diseases, such as polio, diptheria and tetanus, have few reported cases because of the success of mass childhood immunization programs; others, such as congenital syphilis, are rarely reported because of the implementation of public health control measures such as routine screening of all pregnant women for syphilis.

Table 2: List of Notifiable Diseases Which Have Few or No Cases Reported

Acute Flaccid Paralysis

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

Diphtheria

Gonococcal Ophthalmia Neonatorum

Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome

Hepatitis Non-A, Non-B

Human Immunodeficiency Virus