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A notifiable disease is any contagious disease that is required by law to be reported to the national health department. In Australia, The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) was established in 1990. All diseases classified on this database must be notified to the Australian Department of Health.
The following are some of the most common notifiable diseases:
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)
Following initial infection, a person may experience a brief period of influenza-like illness. This is typically followed by a prolonged period without symptoms. As the infection progresses, it affects the immune system, making the person much more susceptible to common infections like tuberculosis.
Anthrax
Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the soil-borne Bacillus anthracis. When spores are inhaled, ingested, or come into contact with a skin wound, they become reactivated and multiply rapidly. The major risk is that anthrax spores contaminate the environment and remain viable for many years, with the potential to infect again decades later.
Australian bat lyssavirus
There have been three confirmed cases of ABLV in humans within Australia and all of them have been fatal. The first occurred in 1996 when an animal carer was scratched by a bat. Onset of a rabies-like illness occurred 4–5 weeks following the incident, with death twenty days later.
Barmah Forest virus
Barmah Forest virus is a virus currently found only in Australia. Although there is no specific treatment, the disease is non-fatal and most infected people recover. The virus can only be transmitted to humans by bites from infected mosquitoes. Direct contact with an infected person or animal does not cause infection. The virus is hosted mainly by possums, kangaroos and wallabies. Symptoms are similar to that of the Ross River virus.
Ebola
Ebola virus disease (EVD) is a disease of humans and other primates caused by ebolaviruses. Signs and symptoms typically start between two days and three weeks after contracting the virus. Although the virus presents flu-like symptoms, Ebola can only be transmitted by direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person or animal.
Hepatitis A, B, C, D and E
Hepatitis is defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. Hepatitis may occur with limited or no symptoms, but often leads to yellow discoloration of the skin, mucus membranes and conjunctivae, poor appetite and malaise. All new cases of all strains of hepatitis are notifiable to authorities.
Japanese encephalitis (JE)
JE is associated with encephalitis in humans and horses. Water birds and mosquitoes are the main carriers. Of concern to Australia was the introduction of the virus into the Torres Strait Islands in 1995 with two fatal cases. The concern is that migratory birds or newly introduced mosquito vectors could spread the disease further through Australia.
Legionnaires’ disease
Legionnaires’ disease is transmitted by inhalation of aerosolized water or soil contaminated with the bacteria. It is not airborne and it is not transmitted from person-to-person. Sources where temperatures allow the bacteria to thrive include hot-water tanks, cooling towers, and evaporative condensers of large air-conditioning systems, such as those commonly found in hotels and large office buildings. It is difficult to distinguish Legionnaires’ disease from other types of pneumonia by symptoms or radiologic findings alone; other tests are required for diagnosis.
Malaria
The presentation of symptoms in non-endemic areas requires further testing such as enlarged spleen, fever, low number of platelets in the blood, and higher-than-normal levels of bilirubin in the blood combined with a normal level of white blood cells. Anyone who has recently traveled to an infected area should be tested as soon as any symptoms appear. The WHO estimates that in 2010 there were 219 million cases of malaria resulting in 660,000 deaths.
Measles
Measles is an airborne disease that is spread through respiration, either directly or through aerosol transmission via coughing or sneezing. The virus is highly contagious—90% of people without immunity sharing living space with an infected person will become infected. An asymptomatic incubation period occurs nine to twelve days from initial exposure.
Meningococcal disease
Meningococcal disease causes life-threatening meningitis and sepsis conditions. In the case of meningitis, bacteria attack the lining between the brain and skull called the meninges. Infected fluid from the meninges then passes into the spinal cord, causing symptoms including stiff neck, fever and rashes. The meninges (and sometimes the brain itself) begin to swell, which affects the central nervous system.
Mumps
Mumps is spread from person to person through saliva, coughing or sneezing. Mumps can also be spread by sharing food and drinks. The virus can also survive on surfaces and then be spread after contact in a similar manner. A person infected with mumps is contagious from approximately 7 days before the onset of symptoms until about 8 days after symptoms start.
Nipah virus
Nipah virus is closely related to Hendra virus. It can cause fatal illness in people and animals and is therefore of considerable public health concern. Flying foxes are the natural hosts for Nipah virus, but infection in bats causes no apparent disease.
Ross River virus
Ross River virus (RRV) is prevalent in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and other islands in the South Pacific. It is a type of mosquito-borne non-lethal but debilitating tropical disease, previously termed “epidemic polyarthritis”. Symptoms include joint stiffness, severe fatigue and flu-like attributes.
Whooping cough
Whooping cough (or pertussis) is a highly contagious respiratory infection caused by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis. Whooping cough can affect people of any age. For adolescents and adults, the infection may only cause a persistent cough. However, for babies and young children, whooping cough can be life threatening. Complications of whooping cough in babies include pneumonia, fits, and brain damage from prolonged lack of oxygen.
The Australian Department of Health issued the following facts in their 2011 NNDSS Annual Report:
“In 2011, 65 diseases and conditions were nationally notifiable in Australia. States and territories reported a total of 238,158 notifications of communicable diseases to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, an increase of 14% on the number of notifications in 2010. This increase was largely due to the ongoing pertussis epidemic and higher than usual inter-season notifications of influenza. In 2011, the most frequently notified diseases were sexually transmissible infections (95,456 notifications, 40.1% of total notifications), vaccine preventable diseases (81,872 notifications, 34.4% of total notifications), and gastrointestinal diseases (32,784 notifications, 13.8% of total notifications). There were 17,123 notifications of bloodborne diseases; 8,306 notifications of vectorborne diseases; 1,928 notifications of other bacterial infections; 681 notifications of zoonoses and 8 notifications of quarantinable diseases.”
This report also contains a comprehensive table that lists all of the notifiable diseases within Australia. If you have recently travelled or been in contact with an infected person and you begin to present any symptoms, contact your GP immediately for further testing.
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