Nebraska Administrative Code
Topic - HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SYSTEM
Title 173 - CONTROL OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASE
Chapter 1 - REPORTING AND CONTROL OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
Section 173-1-002 - DEFINITIONS
When terms are used in 173 NAC 1, the following definitions apply:
Adult HIV Confidential Case Report Form means a CDC form for reporting HIV in adult patients to the Department. The form is available for download on the Department Website at http://dhhs.ne.gov/publichealth/epi/Pages/ReportableDiseases.aspx or by email request at dhhs.epi@nebraska.gov.
Advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) means a registered nurse who holds a current APRN license as a Certified Nurse Midwife, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, Clinical Nurse Specialist, or Nurse Practitioner.
Antibiotic susceptibility registry is the secured online database of susceptibilities of bacterial isolates to antimicrobial drugs reported to the state electronically by laboratories and stored in NEDSS (see NEDSS definition below).
Case means an instance of a suspected or confirmed disease or condition in a person or animal.
CDC means the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
CMS means Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Communicable disease, illness, or poisoning means an illness due to an infectious or malignant agent, which is capable of being transmitted directly or indirectly to a person from an infected person or animal through the agency of an intermediate animal, host, or vector, or through the inanimate environment.
Confirmed case means a case of reportable disease that meets the case definitions specified and published by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) for each disease, and available at http://wwwn.cdc.gov/nndss/script/casedefDefault.aspx. Confirmed cases generally require a positive laboratory test for the given disease, together with some clinical or epidemiologic data consistent with the clinical signs and symptoms of that disease.
Contact means a person or animal that has been in close proximity/association with a communicable disease, illness, or poison for such a period that they have had an opportunity to become affected.
Department means the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).
Epidemic or outbreak means the occurrence of one or more than one case of an illness of similar nature in persons of a community, institution, region, or other geographically defined area which is clearly in excess of normal expectancy.
Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) means an infection that occurs as a result of a medical treatment or residence in a healthcare facility. Nebraska DHHS accepts the definitions of specific HAIs as published by the CDC for NHSN (see NHSN definition below).
Healthcare Facility means any facility licensed under the Health Care Facility Licensure Act, and such additional clinics or facilities not licensed under that act as may be identified in specific orders issued pursuant to 173 NAC.
Laboratory means any facility that receives, forwards, or analyzes specimens from the human body, or referred cultures of specimens from the human body, and reports the results to physicians and public health authorities.
Local public health department means a county, district, or city-county health department approved by the Department of Health and Human Services as a local full-time public health service.
NEDSS means the Nebraska Electronic Disease Surveillance System for electronic and manual online reporting.
NHSN means the National Healthcare Safety Network.
Pediatric HIV Confidential Case Report Form means a CDC form for reporting HIV in pediatric patients to the Department. The form is available for download on the Department Website at http://dhhs.ne.gov/publichealth/epi/Pages/ReportableDiseases.aspx or by email request at dhhs.epi@nebraska.gov.
Suspected case means a person or deceased person having a condition or illness in which the signs and symptoms resemble those of a recognizable disease.
