Summary
Primary changes proposed in this rule amendment include: 1) making the definitions section more robust and comprehensive; 2) reformatting sections, and separating out some sections to clarify requirements for different types of reporters; 3) adding chikungunya and Zika virus as explicitly reportable conditions under "arboviral disease"; 4) adding non-seasonal influenza as an explicitly notifiable condition under "influenza infections", and adding it explicitly to the list of immediately notifiable conditions; 5) adding scientific names to all conditions and ensuring formatting throughout the list of reportable conditions is consistent; 6) adding a section regarding reporting of pregnancy for certain reportable conditions; 7) adding C. difficile and Zika virus to the list of conditions for which all results are reportable by ELR; 8) adding norovirus and liver function tests (LFTs) (for hepatitis) to the electronic laboratory reporting (ELR) section; 9) removing gonorrhea from the mandatory laboratory sample submission section; 10) adding Zika virus to the mandatory laboratory sample submission section; and 11) correcting formatting and wording errors in order to ensure clarity within sections of the rule. In addition, rabies information is updated according to the 2016 Rabies Compendium, and Compendium information is updated in the ?References? section of the rule.