Feb 13 -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) invites comment to OMB on a proposed information collection project titled National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System. The purpose of this data collection is to provide the official source of statistics in the United States for nationally notifiable conditions. OMB must receive written comments on or before March 16, 2023.
The Public Health Services Act (42 U.S.C. 241) authorizes CDC to disseminate nationally notifiable condition information. The National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) is based on data collected at the state, territorial and local levels as a result of legislation and regulations in those jurisdictions that require health care providers, medical laboratories, and other entities to submit health-related data on reportable conditions to public health departments. These reportable conditions, which include infectious and non-infectious diseases, vary by jurisdiction depending upon each jurisdiction's health priorities and needs. Each year, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), supported by CDC, determines which reportable conditions should be designated nationally notifiable or under standardized surveillance.
CDC requests a three-year approval for a Revision for the NNDSS. This Revision includes requests for approval to: (1) receive case notification data for Carbapenemase-Producing Organisms (CPO), a new nationally notifiable condition; (2) receive case notification data for Strongyloidiasis, a new condition under standardized surveillance (CSS); and (3) receive new disease-specific data elements for Brucellosis, Candida auris, CPO, Carbon Monoxide Poisoning, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Melioidosis, and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers.
The NNDSS currently facilitates the submission and aggregation of case notification data voluntarily submitted to CDC from 60 jurisdictions: public health departments in every U.S. state, New York City, Washington, DC, five U.S. territories (American Samoa, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), and three freely associated states (Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau). This information is shared across jurisdictional boundaries and both surveillance and prevention and control activities are coordinated at regional and national levels.
Over 90% of case notifications are encrypted and submitted to NNDSS electronically from already existing databases by automated electronic messages. When automated transmission is not possible, case notifications are faxed, emailed, uploaded to a secure network or entered into a secure website. All case notifications that are faxed or emailed are done so in the form of an aggregate weekly or annual report, not individual cases. These different mechanisms used to send case notifications to CDC vary by the jurisdiction and the disease or condition. Jurisdictions remove most personally identifiable information (PII) before data are submitted to CDC, but some data elements (e.g., date of birth, date of diagnosis, county of residence) could potentially be combined with other information to identify individuals. Private information is not disclosed unless otherwise compelled by law. All data are treated in a secure manner consistent with the technical, administrative, and operational controls required by the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) and the 2010 National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Recommended Security Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations. Weekly tables of nationally notifiable diseases are available through CDC WONDER and data.cdc.gov. Annual summaries of finalized nationally notifiable disease data are published on CDC WONDER and data.cdc.gov and disease-specific data are published by individual CDC programs.
NNDSS:
https://www.cdc.gov/nndss/index.html
CDC submission to OMB:
https://www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAViewICR?ref_nbr=202302-0920-011 Click IC List for information collection instrument, View Supporting Statement for technical documentation. Submit comments through this webpage.
FRN:
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-02945
For AEA members wishing to submit comments, "A Primer on How to Respond to Calls for Comment on Federal Data Collections" is available at
https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=5806