Virginia Law

A. A physician who treats or examines any person who is suffering from or who is suspected of having a reportable disease or condition shall report, at a minimum, that person's name, telephone number, address, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, sex, and pregnancy status for females; name of disease diagnosed or suspected; the date of onset of illness; available laboratory tests and results; and the name, address, and telephone number of the physician and medical facility where the examination was made. A physician may designate someone to report on the physician's behalf, but the physician shall ensure that the appropriate report is made. A physician, designee, or organization making a report as authorized in this section shall be immune from liability as provided by § 32.1-38 of the Code of Virginia. The physician shall send the report within the timeframes specified in 12VAC5-90-80 to the local health department serving the jurisdiction in which the facility is located via the Virginia Department of Health's online Confidential Morbidity Report portal at https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/clinicians/disease-reporting-and-control-regulations/ or a CDC or VDH disease-specific surveillance form.

B. A laboratory director shall report a laboratory examination of a clinical specimen that yields evidence of a disease listed in 12VAC5-90-80 B. A laboratory director shall report results that are performed in-house or referred to a reference laboratory, with the following exception: if the laboratory director ascertains that the reference laboratory that tests a specimen reports to the department electronically, then the reference laboratory findings do not need to be reported by the laboratory of origin.

C. A report from a laboratory director shall give the source of the specimen and the laboratory method and result; the name, address, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, sex, and pregnancy status for females (if known) of the person from whom the specimen was obtained; and the name, address, and telephone number of the physician at whose request and medical facility at which the examination was made. If the influenza virus is isolated, the type shall be reported, if available. A laboratory director shall make the report within the timeframes specified in 12VAC5-90-80 to the local health department serving the jurisdiction in which the laboratory is located via the department's online Confidential Morbidity Report portal or on the laboratory's own form, including a computer-generated report if it includes the required information. A laboratory director may make the required reports by means of secure electronic transmission upon agreement of the laboratory director and the department. A laboratory director shall submit a report of HIV genetic nucleotide sequence data associated with HIV drug resistance tests electronically. A person making a report as authorized in this section shall be immune from liability as provided by § 32.1-38 of the Code of Virginia.

D. If a clinical specimen yields evidence indicating the presence of a select agent or toxin as defined in 42 CFR Part 73, the laboratory director shall contact the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services and arrange to forward an isolate for confirmation. If a select agent or toxin has been confirmed in a clinical specimen, the laboratory director shall consult with Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services or CDC regarding isolate transport or destruction.

E. A laboratory operating within a medical care facility shall be considered to be in compliance with the requirement to notify the local health department if the director of the medical care facility assumes the reporting responsibility; however, the laboratory director shall still submit isolates to the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services or other designated laboratory as noted in 12VAC5-90-80 D unless the laboratory has submitted an exemption request that has been approved by the department.

F. A person in charge of a medical care facility shall make a report to the local health department serving the jurisdiction where the facility is located of the occurrence in or admission to the facility of a patient with a reportable disease listed in 12VAC5-90-80 A unless the person in charge of a medical care facility has evidence that the occurrence has been reported by a physician. A person making a report as authorized in this section shall be immune from liability as provided by § 32.1-38 of the Code of Virginia. The requirement to report shall include all inpatient, outpatient, and emergency care departments within the medical care facility. A report shall contain the patient's name, address, age, date of birth, race, ethnicity, sex, and, if the patient is female, pregnancy status; name of disease being reported; available laboratory tests and results; the date of admission; medical record number; date expired (if applicable); and attending physician. A report shall be made within the timeframes specified in 12VAC5-90-80 to the local health department serving the jurisdiction in which the facility is located via the Virginia Department of Health's online Confidential Morbidity Report portal at https://www.vdh.virginia.gov/clinicians/disease-reporting-and-control-regulations/ or a CDC or VDH disease-specific surveillance form. The person in charge of the medical facility may make the reports by means of secure electronic transmission upon agreement of the medical care facility and the department.

G. A person in charge of a medical care facility may assume the reporting responsibility on behalf of the director of the laboratory operating within the facility.

H. The person in charge of a residential or day program, service, or facility licensed or operated by any agency of the Commonwealth or a school, child care center, or summer camp as defined in § 35.1-1 of the Code of Virginia shall report immediately to the local health department the presence or suspected presence in the person in charge's program, service, facility, school, child care center, or summer camp of persons who have common symptoms suggesting an outbreak situation. The person in charge shall report additional information, including identifying and contact information for individuals with communicable diseases of public health concern or individuals who are involved in outbreaks that occur in the person in charge's facilities, as necessary to facilitate public health investigation and disease control. Identifying and contact information, at minimum, shall include a name and telephone number. A person making a report pursuant to this section shall be immune from liability as provided by § 32.1-38 of the Code of Virginia.

I. The local health director shall forward a report of a disease or report of evidence of a disease that has been made on a resident of the local health director's jurisdiction to the Office of Epidemiology within three days of receipt. The report shall be submitted immediately by the most rapid means available if the disease is one requiring rapid communication, as required in 12VAC5-90-80 C. Rapid reporting shall be confirmed in writing and submitted to the Office of Epidemiology, by either a paper report or entry into a shared secure electronic disease surveillance system, within three days. A local health director shall immediately forward to the appropriate local health director a disease report on an individual residing in the appropriate local health director's jurisdiction or to the Office of Epidemiology if the individual resides outside Virginia. The Office of Epidemiology shall notify other state health departments of reported illnesses in residents of the other state and shall notify CDC as necessary and appropriate.

J. In accordance with § 32.1-37.1 of the Code of Virginia, a person in charge of a hospital, nursing facility or nursing home, assisted living facility, or correctional facility shall, at the time of transferring custody of a dead body to a person practicing funeral services, notify the person practicing funeral services or the person practicing funeral services's agent if the dead person was known to have had, immediately prior to death, an infectious disease which may be transmitted through exposure to any bodily fluids. These include any of the following infectious diseases:

Coronavirus, severe (e.g., SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV)

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection

Hepatitis B (acute and chronic)

Hepatitis C (acute and chronic)

Rabies

Smallpox (Variola virus)

Syphilis, infectious (Treponema pallidum)

Tuberculosis, active disease (Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex)

Vaccinia, disease or adverse event

Viral hemorrhagic fever

K. Pursuant to 12VAC5-421-80, a food employee or conditional employee shall notify the person in charge of the food establishment when diagnosed with certain diseases that are transmissible through food, and the person in charge of the food establishment shall notify the department.