Infectious Disease Reporting and Forms

A cluster of illness is a sudden increase in the occurrence of a disease at a particular time and place.

It is especially important to identify and report a cluster of illness in a group setting such as schools, offices, healthcare facilities, etc.

The Bureau of Infectious Disease Control (BIDC) will work with your facility to:

• Investigate the potential cause of illness
• Make recommendations for appropriate measures to stop the spread of disease

Public health also investigates infection control breaches in healthcare, including:

• When medications are diverted
• When individuals are potentially exposed to infectious disease

• Schools
  • The NH School Toolkit for Respiratory Illness  and The Toolkit for Schools: Prevention and Management of Acute Viral and Bacterial Gastrointestinal Illness gives schools guidance on how to report respiratory and gastrointestinal clusters and outbreaks of illness. The toolkits also contain samples of letters to parents, posters, and links to handouts as well as information about prevention measures to stop ongoing illness.
  • All schools are strongly encouraged to report student absenteeism referenced in the Respiratory Illness Toolkit. Participating schools have access to a simple and easy-to-use web-reporting tool to submit daily reports of total counts of student absenteeism and cases of ILI. This process typically takes less than 15 minutes to complete.
  • Please contact the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control at (603) 271-4496 in order to participate and enroll your school.
• Health Care Facilities and Other Congregate Settings
  • Healthcare facilities, schools, daycares, camps, assisted living, long-term care, corrections and other congregate settings should report unusual occurrence or outbreaks of respiratory or gastrointestinal illness (e.g. COVID-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), norovirus, and any other unknown respiratory or gastrointestinal illnesses not identified) to NH DHHS through the Outbreak Reporting Form.
  • Facilities are required to report outbreaks or unusual occurrence of disease as required under RSA 141: C. This tool streamlines reporting processes by allowing facilities to enter aggregate information directly into the form. Public health will review all reported outbreaks and contact facilities if there are additional questions or if a facility requests assistance. An automatic email will be sent following submission of the form confirming receipt and provide resources to reduce the spread of infections in congregate settings.
  • If you prefer to notify the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control (BIDC) by phone or have any immediate questions, you may still call at 603-271-4496. This form is only intended for reporting outbreaks or unusual occurrences listed above. Any other reports from the NH Reportable Disease list should still be reported by phone or fax Monday – Friday 8am-4pm at 603-271-4496 or afterhours at 603-271-5300, in accordance with Administrative Rule He-P 301 and RSA-141-C.

To submit a specimen for testing at the New Hampshire Public Health Laboratories (NH PHL), complete a NH PHL Clinical Laboratory Test Requisition. 

Submission of a specimen and a completed Clinical Laboratory Test Requisition Form to the NH PHL does not meet the obligation of a healthcare provider or laboratory to report to the Bureau of Infectious Disease Control as outlined in the Disease Reporting Guidelines.

For more information on testing at the NH PHL, visit the NH PHL web page.