Updates to the Communicable Disease Reporting Rules

October 2, 2024

On September 27, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) released changes to Minnesota’s Communicable Disease Reporting Rules. The changes address new and emerging infectious diseases, changes in clinical practice, and help ensure a strong public health system. Changes include:  

• Required reporting of the following communicable diseases:  

  • Blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) and cyanotoxin poisoning 

  • Capnocytophaga canimorsus 

  • Carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CP-CRPA). Submit clinical materials 

  • Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) cases in infants less than or equal to 90 days of age 

  • Hard tick relapsing fever (Borrelia miyamotoi) 

  • Rat-bite fever (Streptobacillus moniliformisCOVID-19 (SARS-Cov-2 infection (unusual case incidence, critical illness, or laboratory confirmed cases)  

  • Multisystem inflammatory syndrome associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection, including in children (MIS-C) and adults (MIS-A) 

  • Candida auris. Submit clinical materials 

  • Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB). Submit clinical materials 

  • Glanders (Burkholderia mallei). Submit clinical materials (immediately reportable) 

  • Melioidosis (Burkholderia pseudomallei). Submit clinical materials (immediately reportable) 

  • SARS- CoV-2 (COVID-19) (unusual case incidence, critical illness, all laboratory confirmed cases).  

• Added the requirement to submit clinical materials for hepatitis A when requested. 

• Added reporting of hepatitis C under chronic conditions that are perinatally transmissible. 

• Added requirement that laboratories that perform genetic sequencing submit whole genome sequencing data for all reportable diseases upon request of the commissioner. 

• Added requirement to submit clinical materials from a normally sterile site for gonorrhea (Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection) and upon request.  

• Removed the requirement to report Diphyllobothrium latum infection, amebiasis (Entamoeba histolytica/dispar), and retrovirus. 

• Replaced Carbapenem-Resistant “Enterobacteriaceae” with Carbapenem-Resistant “Enterobacterales.”  

• Expanded reporting of Chlamydia trachomatis to include serotypes includes serovars L1, L2, and L3. 

• Defines one working day as Monday through Friday, and does not include official holidays. 

• Requires the reporting of the name and date of birth of the case, suspected case or decedent and all other information listed under Minn. Rules, Part 4605.7090 that is known for diseases reported under unusual case incidence (4605.7050) or other reports (4605.7070). 

For additional details on all the changes to the rules governing communicable disease reporting, visit the MDH website.