Infectious diseases; notification

For the purpose of infection control, suspected cases, confirmed cases, or deaths resulting from a communicable disease subject to mandatory reporting under § 6 IfSG, as well as evidence of pathogens subject to mandatory reporting under § 7 IfSG, must be reported to the public health department. In Bavaria, there is also a non-anonymous reporting requirement for cases of illness or death due to borreliosis in the form of erythema migrans, acute neuroborreliosis, and acute Lyme arthritis, in accordance with § 5 of the Ordinance on State Health Administration and Public Health Protection (GesV). These reports are then evaluated by the public health department and, if necessary, forwarded to the Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) and, from there, to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) if a nationwide reporting requirement applies. Under the state-specific reporting requirement for borreliosis, the reported case numbers are published on the LGL’s website. The goal is to prevent communicable diseases in humans, detect infections early, and prevent their further spread.

The IfSG requires, for example, physicians in medical practices, hospitals, and laboratories to report cases to public health authorities. A distinction is made between reports that include the patient’s name, pursuant to § 9 IfSG, and reports that do not include the patient’s name, pursuant to § 10 IfSG.

• Reportable Diseases: Primarily physicians and medical diagnostic laboratories, as well as certain institutions and companies, are required to report the diseases and confirmed cases of infectious agents listed in the law—or suspected cases thereof—to the locally responsible public health department. Reports are primarily submitted electronically via DEMIS (German Electronic Reporting and Information System for Infection Control). Reports submitted by physicians or laboratories are made by name—that is, they include the name of the affected person and their contact information—so that the public health department can contact them, verify the facts, and, if necessary, implement infection control measures. The transmission of data by the public health department to the LGL (State Institute for Public Health) as the competent state authority, and from there to the RKI, is carried out without disclosing the name and contact information (pseudonymized).
• Anonymous reports: The detections of pathogens specified in Section 7(3) of the IfSG, such as the AIDS pathogen HIV, are reported by the laboratory anonymously (without disclosing the personal data of the affected individual) directly to the RKI. The RKI provides special laboratory reporting forms for this purpose (see “Forms”).

Please use the online service via the button above to report notifiable diseases in accordance with Section 34 of the Infection Protection Act.

To contact the responsible office, please use the secure contact form or the encrypted e-mail. Both services can also be accessed via the buttons above.

You will find the following documents under Forms:

• Doctor's notification form: Notifiable disease according to §§ 6, 8, 9 IfSG.
• Laboratory notification form: Detection of pathogens according to §§ 7, 8, 9 IfSG.
• Notification form for Lyme borreliosis.
• Notification form for community facilities: Notifiable diseases according to § 34 Infection Protection Act.
• Recommendation for re-admission to community facilities.

You will also find a link to the RKI page "Recommendations for re-admission to community facilities" under the further links.

A notifiable infectious disease or a notifiable event has occurred.

The deadlines are based on § 9 ff. of the Infection Protection Act.

• Doctor's notification form: Notifiable disease according to §§ 6, 8, 9 IfSG
• Recommendation for re-admission to community facilities
• Laboratory notification form: Detection of pathogens according to §§ 7, 8, 9 IfSG
• Notification form for Lyme borreliosis

  in accordance with the Ordinance on the Extension of the Obligation to Report Other Communicable Diseases or Pathogens of January 23, 2013 (form for the doctor)

• Notification forms of the RKI according to § 7 paragraph 3 IfSG
• Notification form for community facilities: Notifiable diseases according to § 34 Infection Protection Act

• § Section 5 Extension of reporting obligations under the Infection Protection Act - Ordinance on the State Health Administration and Public Health Protection (GesV)
• §§ 6 ff. Act on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Diseases in Humans (Infection Protection Act - IfSG)

• Recommendation for re-admission to community facilities

  In community facilities such as schools and daycare centers, infants, children and adolescents come into close contact with each other and the staff caring for them on a daily basis. Close contact favors the transmission of pathogens. In addition, certain diseases sometimes cause particularly severe courses of illness in children. For this reason, the Infection Protection Act (IfSG) provides for special regulations for children and adults caring for them in communal facilities.

• Pathogen profiles
• Infectious diseases A-Z

Persons obliged to report must complete an electronic notification or a notification form and - depending on the disease - report it to the responsible health authority or the RKI.

The public health department forwards the pseudonymized data of the report to the LGL, which in turn forwards it to the RKI.