Notifiable diseases
A list of diseases notifiable to the Medical Officer of Health

Date of publication on the web: July 2005

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Notification is to occur on suspicion of the disease, to enable both surveillance and consideration of the need for public health action.

Below is a list of diseases that medical practitioners are required under the Health Act 1956 to notify, on suspicion, to the Medical Officer of Health.

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Diseases Notifiable in New Zealand (include suspected cases)*

Notifiable Infectious Diseases Under the Health Act 1956

Section A – Infectious Diseases Notifiable to a Medical Officer of Health and Local Authority

• Acute gastroenteritis **
• Campylobacteriosis
• Cholera
• Cryptosporidiosis
• Giardiasis
• Hepatitis A
• Legionellosis
• Listeriosis
• Meningoencephalitis – primary amoebic
• Salmonellosis
• Shigellosis
• Typhoid and paratyphoid fever
• Yersiniosis

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Section B – Infectious Diseases Notifiable to Medical Officer of Health

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Anthrax
• Arboviral diseases
• Brucellosis
• Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other spongiform encephalopathies
• Diphtheria
• Enterobacter sakazakii invasive disease
• Haemophilus influenzae b
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• Hepatitis (viral) – not otherwise specified
• Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)
• Hydatid disease
• Leprosy
• Leptospirosis
• Malaria
• Measles
• Mumps
• Neisseria meningitidis invasive disease
• Pertussis
• Plague
• Poliomyelitis
• Rabies
• Rheumatic fever
• Rickettsial diseases
• Rubella
• Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
• Tetanus
• Viral haemorrhagic fevers
• Yellow fever

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Diseases Notifiable to Medical Officer of Health (Other than Notifiable Infectious Diseases)

Notifiable to the Medical Officer of Health

• Cysticercosis
• Taeniasis
• Trichinosis
• Decompression sickness
• Lead absorption equal to or in excess of 10µg/dl (0.48µ mol/l) ***
• Poisoning arising from chemical contamination of the environment

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Notifiable Diseases Under Tuberculosis Act 1948

Notifiable to the Medical Officer of Health

Tuberculosis (all forms)

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* During times of increased incidence practitioners may be requested to report, with informed consent, to their local Medical Officer of Health cases of communicable diseases not on this list.

** Not every case of acute gastroenteritis is necessarily notifiable – only those where there is a suspected common source or from a person in a high risk category (eg, food handler, early childhood service worker, etc) or single cases of chemical, bacterial, or toxic food poisoning such as botulism, toxic shellfish poisoning (any type) and disease caused by verocytotoxic E. coli.

*** Blood lead levels to be reported to the Medical Officer of Health (10µg/dl or 0.48µ mol/l) are for environmental exposure. Where occupational exposure is suspected, please notify OSH through the NODS network.

Page last updated 19 December 2007


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Related information

Communicable Diseases

• Direct Laboratory Notification of Communicable Diseases: National Guidelines (Dec 2007)

Requirements for Vessels Arriving in New Zealand

E. sakazakii invasive disease became notifiable on 21 July 2005
Notification enables both identification of instances of Enterobacter sakazakii (E. sakazakii) invasive disease and consideration of the need for public health action. Notification of E. sakazakii was a recommendation of a report into the investigation of the death of a premature infant who had contracted the disease in 2004.

Statutes of New Zealand
This links to an electronic database of New Zealand Statutes. Notification of specified diseases is required under the Health Act 1956 (section 74). See the schedules at the back of the Act for the list of specified diseases. The Tuberculosis Act 1948 is relevant for notification of tuberculosis.

Both these Acts are under review, and it is hoped to combine and update them in a new Public Health Bill.
More information on proposals for the Public Health Bill and its process is available on the Ministry of Health website.