Diseases of Public Health Significance
Suspected or confirmed cases of the following specified diseases (as per Ontario Regulation 135/18 and amendments under the Health Protection and Promotion Act, R.S.O. c.H.7) must be reported to the local Medical Officer of Health.
To report a DOPHS, contact the Communicable Disease Control (CDC) program; Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Telephone: 705-474-1400 or toll free at 1-800-563-2808, ext. 5229
Fax: 705-482-0670
After hours, weekends, and holidays, call 705-474-1400 then press 0 to speak with the Answering Service. The on-call CDC Public Health Nurse will get back to you as soon as possible.
Immediate Reporting
Given the public health action associated with case and contact follow-up for some DOPHS, it is expected that the following be reported immediately by fax and telephone to the local Medical Officer of Health.
- Anthrax
- Botulism
- Brucellosis
- Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, all types
- Diphtheria
- Diseases caused by a novel coronavirus, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)
- Group A Streptococcal disease, invasive (iGAS)
- Haemophilus influenzae disease, all types, invasive
- Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
- Hemorrhagic fevers, including: Ebola, Marburg, Lassa or other viral agents including arenaviruses, bunyaviruses, filoviruses and flaviviruses
- Hepatitis A
- Influenza, Novel
- Measles
- Meningococcal disease, invasive
- Plague
- Poliomyelitis, acute
- Q fever
- Rabies
- Smallpox and other Orthopoxviruses including Mpox
Report by next business day
It is expected that the following diseases are reported to the local Medical Officer of Health as soon as possible, but preferably within one business day.
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
- Acute Flaccid Paralysis
- Amebiasis
- Anaplasmosis
- Babesiosis
- Blastomycosis
- Campylobacter enteritis
- Candida Auris
- Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) infection or colonization
- Chancroid
- Chickenpox (Varicella)
- Chlamydia trachomatis infections
- Cholera
- Clostridium difficile (CDI) outbreaks in public hospitals
- Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
- Cryptosporidiosis
- Cyclosporiasis
- Echinococcus multilocularis infection
- Encephalitis, post-infectious; vaccine-related; subacute sclerosing panencephalitis; unspecified
- Food poisoning, all causes
- Gastroenteritis, outbreaks in institutions and public hospitals
- Giardiasis, except asymptomatic cases
- Gonorrhea
- Group B Streptococcal disease, neonatal
- Hepatitis B
- Hepatitis C
- Influenza
- Legionellosis
- Leprosy
- Listeriosis
- Lyme disease
- Meningitis; acute, including: bacterial, viral, and other
- Mumps
- Ophthalmia neonatorum
- Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning
- Paratyphoid fever
- Pertussis (Whooping Cough)
- Pneumococcal disease, invasive
- Powassan virus infection
- Psittacosis/Ornithosis
- Respiratory infection outbreaks in institutions and public hospitals
- Rubella
- Rubella, congenital syndrome
- Salmonellosis
- Shigellosis
- Syphilis
- Tetanus
- Trichinosis
- Tuberculosis
- Tularemia
- Typhoid fever
- Verotoxin-producing E.coli infection indicator conditions, including Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS)
- West Nile Virus illness
- Yersiniosis
Last updated: Mar 2026, by CDC