Macon County Health Department

Communicable diseases are illnesses caused by germs, such as bacteria, viruses, or parasites and are spread by an infected person, animal, or object to another person. The Macon County Health Department has a responsibility to the county we serve to investigate any communicable disease that is reported.  Examples of communicable diseases include pertussis (whooping cough), tuberculosis, hepatitis, and foodborne or waterborne illnesses.  In conjunction with the state health department and local health care providers, the Macon County Health Department works to identify, investigate, and control disease outbreaks in our community.

Interviews with individuals that have been diagnosed with an infectious disease are conducted by one of our Communicable Disease nurses. The interviews are completely confidential.  Interviews are important to aid us in determining the source of the disease and to limit the spread of the disease.

Body Fluids: Spread by direct contact with body fluids such as blood, urine, saliva, semen, or vomit.  Examples include Hepatitis B, HIV, and Pinkeye.

Airborne:  Spread by droplets from the nose, throat, and mouth. Examples include cold, chicken pox, influenza, measles and pertussis (whooping cough).

Fecal-oral:  Spread by contact with human stool.  Characterized by upset stomach, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.  Examples include giardia, rotavirus, hepatitis A, salmonella, norovirus, and campylobacter.

Person to person contact/contact with contaminated items:  Spread by contact with infected skin or with objects such as toys, clothing, and bedding.  Examples include ringworm, scabies, and lice.

Keep Immunizations up to date, including pets

Immunization Schedules - visit immunize For more information - visit Immunization hotline

Wash hands often

Use warm water and soap and rub hands together for 20 seconds making sure to get between fingers, under nails, and back of hands. Dry with paper towel Dry with paper towel after using bathroom After using bathroom Before preparing and eating food After changing diaper After blowing your nose, sneezing, or coughing After playing with pets After caring for a sick person

Take antibiotics exactly as prescribed.

Take them for the full course but not for nonbacterial illnesses, such as, colds Never self medicate with antibiotics or share them with family or friends

Physicians, nurses, dentists; day care, school and university personnel; and health care and laboratory personnel ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO REPORT the following infectious diseases to the local health department:


If you have any suspicious symptoms or questions regarding communicable diseases or ways to prevent them contact the Macon County Health Department Communicable Disease Nurses.

Class I (a)

The following diseases shall be reported immediately (within 3 hours) upon initial clinical suspicion of the disease to the local health authorities, who shall then report to the Department immediately (within 3 hours):

• Anthrax
• Botulism, foodborne
• Plague
• Q-fever
• Smallpox
• Tularemia
• Any suspected bioterrorism threat of event

Class I (b)

The following diseases shall be reported as soon as possible during normal business hours, but within 24 hours (i.e., within 8 regularly scheduled business hours after identifying the case), to the local health authorities, who shall then report to the Department as soon as possible, but within 24 hours:

• Any unusual case or cluster of cases that may indicate a public health hazard Botulism, infant, wound, and other
• Cholera
• Diarrhea of the newborn
• Diphtheria
• Enteric Escherichia coli infections
• Foodborne or waterborne illness
• Haemophilus influenzae, meningitis and other invasive disease
• Hemolytic uremic syndrome, post-diarrheal
• Hepatitis A
• Measles
• Neisseria meningitides, meningitis and invasive
• Pertussis
• Poliomyelitis
• Rabies, human
• Rabies, potential human exposure
• Staphylococcus aureus infections with intermediate or high level resistance to vancomycin*
• Streptococcal infections, Group A, invasive (including TSS) and sequelae to Group A streptococcal infections (rheumatic fever, acute glomerulonephritis and scarlet fever)
• Typhoid fever*
• Typhus

The following diseases shall be reported as soon as possible during normal business hours, but within 7 days, to the local health authority which shall then report to the Department within 7 days:

• AIDS
• Amebiasis*
• Blastomycosis
• Brucellosis
• Campylobacteriosis*
• Chancroid
• Chickenpox
• Chlamydia
• Cryptosporidiosis
• Cyclosporidiosis
• Ehrlichiosis, human granulocytic
• Ehrlichiosis, human monocytic
• Encephalitis
• Giardiasis
• Gonorrhea
• Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
• Hepatitis B*
• Hepatitis C*
• Hepatitis, viral, other*
• Histoplasmosis
• HIV infection
• Legionnaires' Disease
• Leprosy
• Leptospirosis
• Listeriosis
• Lyme Disease
• Malaria
• Meningitis, aseptic (including arboviral infections)
• Mumps
• Ophthalmia neonatorum (gonococcal)
• Psittacosis
• Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
• Rubella (including congenital Rubella Syndrome)
• Salmonellosis* (other than Typhoid fever)
• Shigellosis*
• Staphylococcus aureus infection, toxic shock syndrome
• Staphylococcus aureus infections, occurring in infants under 28 days of age
• Streptococcal infections, group B, invasive disease, of the newborn
• Streptococcus pneumoniae, invasive disease (including antibiotic susceptibility test results)
• Syphilis
• Tetanus
• Trichinosis
• Yersiniosis