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Communicable & Emerging Disease Program

The Office of Epidemiology, Surveillance, and Emerging Diseases' (OESED) Communicable and Emerging Diseases Program conducts disease surveillance for Harris County. The program comprises of the Wastewater Surveillance Team, Disease Intake Team, and Liaison Team.

The Communicable and Emerging Disease Program works daily to identify, collect data, monitor, and control threats to public health, including diseases such as zoonotic diseases, foodborne illnesses, hospital-acquired infections, and emerging and re-emerging diseases. The program also provides education and guidance to internal and external partners regarding disease activity and reporting processes while staying current with local, state, national, and global disease trends.

Several Texas laws (Health & Safety Code, Chapters 81, 84 and 87) require that specific information regarding certain diseases or injuries be provided to the health department (state, regional or local). These diseases and injuries are known as “notifiable conditions.”

Health care providers, hospitals, laboratories, schools, and others are required to report patients who are suspected of having a notifiable condition (Chapter 97, Title 25, Texas Administrative Code). DSHS Notifiable Conditions List

These conditions should be reported to your local health department, which investigates each case and then forwards completed cases to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) Infectious Disease Control Unit.

For more information contact:

Communicable Disease Surveillance & Reporting Contact Information
Phone:  (713) 439-6000
Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Fax:  (713) 439-6306 (this is a secure fax line)
HIV/AIDS patient information should not be sent via fax.

After Hours Epidemiologist On Call: 
(713) 755-5050

More Information On Communicable and Emerging Diseases

A communicable disease is an illness that spreads from one person to another or from an animal to a person. Emerging and reemerging diseases are infectious diseases that are either newly recognized in a population or have existed but are rapidly increasing. Different diseases are spread in various ways, including contact with blood and bodily fluids, inhaling an airborne virus, being bitten by an insect, or getting sick from contaminated surfaces or food.

Many communicable, emerging, and reemerging diseases are reportable and, as mandated by law, require OESED to provide disease activity reports to local and state health departments while continuing to monitor disease activity across Harris County. Some of the more common communicable and emerging diseases the team monitors include Influenza (flu), COVID-19, enteric disease (diarrheal), vaccine-preventable diseases, HIV/STI, and other reportable diseases.