Notify National Public Health Service - South Island | Te Waipounamu

Send communicable disease notifications using Cortex or ERMS.

If Cortex or ERMS are not available, download and email us a completed form. The email address to send it to is on the form.

Measles notification form [DOCX, 63 KB]

Pertussis notification form [DOCX, 65 KB]

Notifiable diseases notification form for general practices [DOCX, 59 KB]

Notifiable diseases notification form for hospitals [DOCX, 58 KB]

Send communicable disease notifications using Cortex or ERMS.

If Cortex or ERMS are not available, download and email us a completed form. The email address to send it to is on the form.

Hazardous substances disease and injury reporting case form [DOCX, 59 KB]

Staff in care facilities need to act quickly if there is a sudden increase in diarrhoea, vomiting or respiratory symptoms. This includes hospitals and retirement villages. Staff should take the following steps.

1. Seek infection control advice from the local Infection Prevention and Control Service, such as IPCNursing@cdhb.health.nz
2. If this is a gastroenteritis outbreak, a Health Protection Officer will contact you to discuss laboratory testing and provide an outbreak number if testing of faecal or PCR specimens are required.
3. Download and complete the appropriate outbreak notification form and illness log form. Email us the forms at the end of the outbreak.
4. Report COVID positive test results on behalf of your residents by either RAT Catcher or My Health Record.

• RAT Catcher is the preferred method as it captures that a person is in a facility. Email ratcatchersupport@health.govt.nz if you are interested in using it.
• If you report through My Health Record you can all 0800 222 478 and choose option 3. However, you may get calls from the Care in the Community teams asking if your residents need any clinical or manaaki support.

Aged-residential care outbreak notification form [DOCX, 63 KB]

Disease illness log form for aged-residential care [DOCX, 60 KB]

Hospital outbreak notification and summary form [DOCX, 70 KB]

Staff in education settings should complete the following forms if they experience a gastroenteritis outbreak.

Early childhood centre outbreak notification and summary form [DOCX, 62 KB]

School outbreak notification and summary form [DOCX, 61 KB]

We have more information for the education sector on infectious diseases, how to keep your centre healthy and other resources.

Education sector

Urgent notifications

If the disease is on the urgent disease notification list send a notification straight away — do not wait for laboratory confirmation.

To notify urgent diseases, including those requiring authorisation for testing, call one of the following numbers.

• 0800 668 439 – Available 24/7 for all providers.
• 03 474 0999 – Dunedin Hospital. Ask to speak to the on call Medical officer of health.
• 03 218 1949 – Southland Hospital. Ask to speak to the on call Medical officer of health.

Non-urgent notifications

Send a non-urgent disease notification by:

• ERMS for GP surgeries
• Pulse — Consult Request (Internal Referral) for hospital staff

You can also:

• email us at NotifyMOH@southerndhb.govt.nz
• call us on 0800 668 439 to notify in person, obtain authorisation for laboratory testing when required, or seek advice on contact tracing and case exclusion where relevant
• fax a completing notification form to 03 476 9858 (Otago) or 03 214 9070 (Southland).

Details to include when you call

Make sure you have the following relevant details about the case available when calling:

• patient's details
• patient's occupation
• patient's place of work, school or pre-school
• date the illness began
• recent travel history in New Zealand or overseas – note date of arrival into NZ and list recent countries visited
• whether the patient has been informed that they have a notifiable disease
• vaccination status if relevant
• whether there are any vulnerable contacts, such as infants or unvaccinated children, pregnant women, or immune compromised individuals
• suspected source of infection, for example functions attended.

Notification form

Notification of disease to Public Health South [PDF, 114 KB]

• Anthrax
• Avian Influenza (highly pathogenic)
• Cholera
• Diphtheria
• Haemophilus influenzae B invasive disease
• Hepatitis A, B (acute illness only)
• Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (including HPIA subtype H5N1)
• Measles
• Meningoencephalitis – primary amoebic
• Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)
• Monkey Pox
• Mumps
• Neisseria meningitidis invasive disease
• Pertussis
• Plague
• Poliomyelitis
• Q fever
• Rabies and other lyssaviruses
• Rubella
• Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)
• Tetanus
• Toxic shellfish poisoning
• Typhoid and paratyphoid fever (case in risk group; food handler, ECE attendee)
• Vero toxin or shiga-like toxin producing Escherichia coli with HUS
• Viral haemorrhagic fevers (e.g. Ebola)
• Yellow Fever

Use the electronic reporting system on BPAC under 'Hazardous Substances & Lead Notifications' on the dashboard. BPAC is available on:

• Medtech32
• My Practice
• Profile for Windows.