Current through December 12, 2024
1. Except as otherwise provided in NAC 441A.240, the director or other person in charge of a medical laboratory in which a test or examination of any specimen derived from the human body yields evidence suggesting the presence of a communicable disease, a causative agent of a communicable disease or an immune response to a causative agent of a communicable disease shall:
(a) If the medical laboratory is in this State, report the findings to the health authority having jurisdiction where the office of the health care provider who ordered the test or examination is located or to an electronic clearinghouse approved by the health authority.
(b) If the medical laboratory performed the test or examination on specimens obtained in this State or from residents of this State, and the medical laboratory is located outside of this State, report the findings to the Chief Medical Officer.
The report must be made in the manner provided in NAC 441A.225.
2. The report must include:
(a) The date and result of the test or examination performed.
(b) The name, address and, if available, telephone number of the person from whom the specimen was obtained.
(c) The sex, age and date of birth of the person from whom the specimen was obtained, if available.
(d) The name of the health care provider who ordered the test or examination.
(e) The name and the address or telephone number of the medical laboratory making the report.
(f) Any other information requested by the health authority, if available.
3. The director or other person in charge of the medical laboratory shall also submit microbiologic cultures, subcultures, culture-independent diagnostic tests or other specimens or clinical material, if available, to the State Public Health Laboratory or other laboratory designated by the health authority for diagnosis, confirmation or further testing if:
(a) Requested by the health authority;
(b) Requested by the Chief Medical Officer or a representative thereof for the purpose of phylogenetic analysis;
(c) The communicable disease is included on the list of diseases published by the health authority pursuant to subsection 4 and the health authority has provided the director or other person in charge of the medical laboratory with a copy of the list; or
(d) The microbiologic cultures, subcultures, or other specimens or clinical material consist of:
(1) Isolates of
Bordetella pertussis or
Bordetella parapertussis;
(2) Isolates of non-motile and non-hemolytic
Bacillus spp.;
(3) Isolates of
Brucella spp.;
(4) Isolates of
Burkholderia mallei or
Burkholderia pseudomallei;
(5) Isolates and positive culture-independent specimens of
Candida auris ;
(6) Isolates of
Campylobacter spp.;
(7) Specimens suspected to contain
Clostridium botulinum;
(8) Isolates of
Clostridium tetani;
(9) Isolates of
Corynebacterium diptheriae ;
(10) Isolates of
Coxiella burnetii;
(11) Isolates of
E. coli O157:H7;
(12) Isolates of
Francisella tularensis;
(13) Isolates of
Haemophilus influenza (invasive only);
(14) Isolates of
Legionella spp.;
(15) Isolates of
Listeria monocytogenes;
(16) Isolates of
Mycobacterium spp.;
(17) Isolates of
Neisseria meningitidis from a sterile site;
(18) Blood smears containing
Plasmodium spp.;
(19) Isolates of
Salmonella spp.;
(20) Isolates of, or broth positive results for, Shiga toxin-producing
Escherichia coli;
(21) Isolates of
Shigella spp.;
(22) Isolates of
Vibrio spp.;
(23) Isolates of Vancomycin-intermediate
Staphylococcus aureus;
(24) Isolates of Vancomycin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus;
(25) Isolates of
Yersinia pestis; or
(26) Isolates of
Yersinia spp., other than
Yersinia pestis.
4. The health authority shall annually publish and post on its Internet website a list of communicable diseases for which microbiologic cultures, subcultures, culture-independent diagnostic tests or other specimens or clinical material, if available, must be submitted pursuant to subsection 3. For each communicable disease included on the list, the health authority must specify:
(a) The microbiologic cultures, subcultures, culture-independent diagnostic tests or other specimens or clinical material to be submitted;
(b) The justification for requiring the microbiologic cultures, subcultures, cultureindependent diagnostic tests or other specimens or clinical material to be submitted;
(c) The name of the medical laboratory to which the microbiologic cultures, subcultures, culture-independent diagnostic tests or other specimens or clinical material must be submitted; and
(d) The process by which the microbiologic cultures, subcultures, culture-independent diagnostic tests or other specimens or clinical material must be submitted.
5. If the director or other person in charge of the medical laboratory submits a cultureindependent diagnostic test pursuant to subsection 3, the State Public Health Laboratory must conduct reflex testing for the purpose of surveillance.
6. Except as otherwise provided in NAC 441A.240, the director or other person in charge of a medical laboratory shall report as required by this section the results of any test of any specimen derived from the human body, if the test is approved by the Food and Drug Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and:
(a) The results of the test confirm the presence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); or
(b) The test was conducted to monitor the progression of a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, including, without limitation, all levels of CD4, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) nucleotide sequences or genotype results and both detectable and undetectable viral loads.
7. With respect to a test described in subsection 6, if the interpretation of the laboratory diagnostic testing algorithm is positive, indicating the presence of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the laboratory must report to the health authority:
(a) The overall result or conclusion of the algorithm; and
(b) Results from all such tests, including, without limitation, negative, nonreactive or intermediate results, that are performed as part of the testing algorithm, including, without limitation:
(1) Fourth-generation and third-generation tests for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV);
(2) Human immunodeficiency virus antibody differentiation tests (HIV-1/-2); and
(3) Nucleic acid amplification tests (NAT) for the presence of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
8. The director or other person in charge of a medical laboratory shall report to the health authority negative results of any test or examination conducted by the medical laboratory for hepatitis C or the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the manner provided in NAC 441A.225. Such a report must include, without limitation:
(a) The date and result of the test or examination.
(b) The name, address and, if available, telephone number of the person from whom the specimen was obtained.
(c) If available, the sex, age and date of birth of the person from whom the specimen was obtained.
(d) The name of the health care provider who ordered the test or examination.
(e) The name and address or telephone number of the medical laboratory.
(f) Any other information requested by the health authority, if available.
Added to NAC by Bd. of Health, eff. 1-24-92; A 11-1-95; R087-08, 1-13-2011; A by R121-14, eff. 10/27/2015; A by R187-18A, eff. 6/12/2019; A by R148-22A, eff. 7/31/2023
NRS 439.200, 441A.120
