Results - Part 1

There were 275,581 communicable disease notifications received by NNDSS in 2014 (Table 3).

Table 3: Notifications to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, Australia, 2014, by disease category rank order

Disease category	Number	%
Sexually transmitted infections	105,719	38
Vaccine preventable diseases	101,400	37
Gastrointestinal diseases	40,367	15
Bloodborne diseases	17,411	6
Vectorborne diseases	8,125	3
Other bacterial diseases	1,942	1
Zoonoses	615	0
Quarantinable diseases	2	0
Total	275,581	100

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In 2014, the most frequently notified diseases were sexually transmissible infections (105,719 notifications, 38% of total notifications), vaccine preventable diseases (101,400 notifications, 37% of total notifications), and gastrointestinal diseases (40,367 notifications, 15% of total notifications).

There was an increase of 22% compared with the total number of notifications in 2013 (226,041) (Figure 2). The increase can largely be attributed to the seasonal increase in influenza notifications for 2014, which reached a higher peak than in previous seasons.

Figure 2: Trends in notifications received by the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, Australia, 1991 to 2014

Text version of Figure 2 (TXT 1 KB)

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Notifications and notification rates per 100,000 for each disease by state or territory in 2014, are shown in Table 4 and Table 5 respectively. Notifications and rates per 100,000 for the period 2009 to 2014 are shown in Table 6.

Table 4: Notified cases of communicable diseases, Australia, 2014, by state or territory

Disease	State or territory								Aust.
	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas.	Vic.	WA
* Newly acquired hepatitis and syphilis < 2 years duration includes cases where the infection was determined to be acquired within 24 months prior to diagnosis. † Unspecified hepatitis and syphilis includes cases where the duration of infection could not be determined or is greater than 24 months. ‡ In Queensland, includes newly acquired hepatitis C cases. § Includes Chlamydia trachomatis identified from cervical, rectal, urine, urethral and throat samples, except for South Australia, which reports only cervical, urine and urethral specimens. From 1 July 2013 case definition changed to exclude all ocular infections. || The national case definitions for chlamydial, gonococcal and syphilis diagnoses include infections that may be acquired through a non-sexual mode (especially in children – e.g. perinatal infections, epidemic gonococcal conjunctivitis). ¶ Data for all states and territories are reported by diagnosis date, except Queensland, which is reported by notification receive date. ** This number may underrepresent the number of diphtheria cases in Australia. For more details please see the 2014 summary of diphtheria in the Vaccine Preventable Diseases section. †† Only invasive meningococcal disease is nationally notifiable. However, the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales also report conjunctival cases. NEC Not elsewhere classified. NN Not notifiable.
Bloodborne diseases
Hepatitis B (newly acquired)*	2	29	3	53	7	5	53	24	176
Hepatitis B (unspecified)†	95	2,514	150	988	323	55	1,741	628	6,494
Hepatitis C (newly acquired)*‡	11	26	2	NN	45	14	174	161	433
Hepatitis C (unspecified)†	164	3,555	178	2,648	449	217	2,048	990	10,249
Hepatitis D	0	19	1	13	9	0	14	3	59
Gastrointestinal diseases
Botulism	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1
Campylobacteriosis	505	NN	294	6,220	1,804	934	7,211	2,963	19,931
Cryptosporidiosis	30	418	87	668	225	30	637	310	2,405
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome	0	6	1	3	3	1	5	1	20
Hepatitis A	5	83	2	44	7	1	70	19	231
Hepatitis E	1	37	0	7	0	0	11	0	56
Listeriosis	1	23	2	17	6	4	22	5	80
Salmonellosis	225	4,314	457	4,937	1,220	249	3,695	1,261	16,358
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli	0	30	0	28	45	0	10	2	115
Shigellosis	9	198	99	176	36	2	463	68	1,051
Typhoid fever	1	45	1	19	9	1	29	14	119
Quarantinable diseases
Cholera	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2
Highly pathogenic avian influenza in humans	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Plague	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rabies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Severe acute respiratory syndrome	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Smallpox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Viral haemorrhagic fever	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Yellow fever	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sexually transmitted infections
Chlamydial infection§||	1,196	22,909	2,997	20,480	5,496	1,774	19,910	11,346	86,108
Donovanosis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1
Gonococcal infection||	120	4,862	1,741	2,721	736	65	3,236	2,194	15,675
Syphilis – congenital||	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	5
Syphilis < 2 years duration*||¶	18	739	73	394	29	14	649	93	2,009
Syphilis > 2 years or unspecified duration†||	26	536	73	279	123	19	801	64	1,921
Vaccine preventable diseases
Diphtheria**	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	2
Haemophilus influenzae type b	0	6	1	9	1	0	3	1	21
Influenza (laboratory confirmed)	1,260	20,877	810	17,924	11,041	673	9,907	5,250	67,742
Measles	7	67	52	73	16	5	77	43	340
Mumps	2	79	1	49	19	5	12	23	190
Pertussis	233	3,131	83	1,392	503	68	4,702	1,751	11,863
Pneumococcal disease (invasive)	15	518	43	230	133	39	379	207	1,564
Poliomyelitis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rubella	0	10	0	2	2	0	2	1	17
Rubella – congenital	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tetanus	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	3
Varicella zoster (chickenpox)	63	NN	103	301	330	46	822	423	2,088
Varicella zoster (shingles)	92	NN	245	55	2,031	268	1,416	1,366	5,473
Varicella zoster (unspecified)	183	NN	8	5,544	146	141	4,810	1,265	12,097
Vectorborne diseases
Arbovirus infection (NEC)	0	5	0	22	0	0	1	0	28
Barmah Forest virus infection	1	163	30	473	1	0	18	55	741
Dengue virus infection	16	377	62	393	72	17	329	450	1,716
Japanese encephalitis virus infection	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1
Kunjin virus infection	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
Malaria	10	88	11	86	6	4	69	48	322
Murray Valley encephalitis virus infection	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ross River virus infection	5	682	412	2,344	75	18	208	1,572	5,316
Zoonoses
Anthrax	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Australia bat lyssavirus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Brucellosis	0	4	1	8	0	0	4	0	17
Leptospirosis	0	14	2	59	1	1	8	3	88
Lyssavirus (NEC)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ornithosis	0	14	0	4	0	0	21	2	41
Q fever	1	179	1	240	10	0	33	5	469
Tularaemia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other bacterial infections
Legionellosis	2	70	7	94	40	8	87	116	424
Leprosy	0	1	0	1	1	0	1	5	9
Meningococcal infection††	2	38	3	40	34	2	33	18	170
Tuberculosis	30	472	28	165	48	9	448	139	1,339
Total	4,331	67,139	8,069	69,208	25,083	4,689	64,173	32,891	275,581

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Table 5: Notification rates per 100,000 of nationally notifiable communicable diseases, Australia, 2014, by state or territory

Disease	State or territory								Aust.
	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas.	Vic.	WA
* Newly acquired hepatitis and syphilis < 2 years duration includes cases where the infection was determined to be acquired within 24 months prior to diagnosis. † Unspecified hepatitis and syphilis includes cases where the duration of infection could not be determined or is greater than 24 months. ‡ In Queensland, includes newly acquired hepatitis C cases. § Includes Chlamydia trachomatis identified from cervical, rectal, urine, urethral and throat samples, except for South Australia, which reports only cervical, urine and urethral specimens. From 1 July 2013 case definition changed to exclude all ocular infections. || The national case definitions for chlamydial, gonococcal and syphilis diagnoses include infections that may be acquired through a non-sexual mode (especially in children – e.g. perinatal infections, epidemic gonococcal conjunctivitis). ¶ Data for all states and territories are reported by diagnosis date, except Queensland, which is reported by notification receive date. ** This number may underrepresent the number of diphtheria cases in Australia. For more details please see the 2014 summary of diphtheria in the Vaccine Preventable Diseases section. †† Only invasive meningococcal disease is nationally notifiable. However, the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales also report conjunctival cases. NEC Not elsewhere classified.
Bloodborne diseases
Hepatitis B (newly acquired)*	0.5	0.4	1.2	1.1	0.4	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.7
Hepatitis B (unspecified)†	24.6	33.4	61.3	20.9	19.2	10.7	29.8	24.5	27.7
Hepatitis C (newly acquired)*‡	2.9	0.3	0.8	NN	2.7	2.7	3.0	6.3	2.3
Hepatitis C (unspecified)†	42.5	47.3	72.8	56.1	26.6	42.2	35.1	38.6	43.7
Hepatitis D	–	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.5	–	0.2	0.1	0.3
Gastrointestinal diseases
Botulism	–	–	–	<0.1	–	–	–	–	<0.1
Campylobacteriosis	131.0	NN	120.2	131.7	107.0	181.5	123.5	115.5	124.9
Cryptosporidiosis	7.8	5.6	35.6	14.1	13.3	5.8	10.9	12.1	10.2
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome	–	0.1	0.4	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.1	<0.1	0.1
Hepatitis A	1.3	1.1	0.8	0.9	0.4	0.2	1.2	0.7	1.0
Hepatitis E	0.3	0.5	–	0.1	–	–	0.2	–	0.2
Listeriosis	0.3	0.3	0.8	0.4	0.4	0.8	0.4	0.2	0.3
Salmonellosis	58.4	57.4	186.8	104.6	72.4	48.4	63.3	49.2	69.7
Shigellosis	2.3	2.6	40.5	3.7	2.1	0.4	7.9	2.7	4.5
Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli	–	0.4	–	0.6	2.7	–	0.2	0.1	0.5
Typhoid fever	0.3	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.2	0.5	0.5	0.5
Quarantinable diseases
Cholera	–	–	–	–	–	–	<0.1	–	<0.1
Highly pathogenic avian influenza in humans	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Plague	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Rabies	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Severe acute respiratory syndrome	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Smallpox	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Viral haemorrhagic fever	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Yellow fever	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Sexually transmitted infections
Chlamydial infection§||	310.3	304.8	1225.2	433.8	326.1	344.7	341.0	442.3	366.8
Donovanosis	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	<0.1	<0.1
Gonococcal infection||	31.1	64.7	711.7	57.6	43.7	12.6	55.4	85.5	66.8
Syphilis – congenital||	–	–	2.0	–	–	–	–	–	<0.1
Syphilis < 2 years duration*||¶	4.7	9.8	29.8	8.3	1.7	2.7	11.1	3.6	8.6
Syphilis > 2 years or unspecified duration†||	6.7	7.1	29.8	5.9	7.3	3.7	13.7	2.5	8.2
Vaccine preventable diseases
Diphtheria**	–	–	–	<0.1	–	–	–	–	<0.1
Haemophilus influenzae type b	–	0.1	0.4	0.2	0.1	–	0.1	<0.1	0.1
Influenza (laboratory confirmed)	326.9	277.8	331.1	379.6	655.1	130.8	169.7	204.6	288.6
Measles	1.8	0.9	21.3	1.5	0.9	1.0	1.3	1.7	1.4
Mumps	0.5	1.1	0.4	1.0	1.1	1.0	0.2	0.9	0.8
Pertussis	60.4	41.7	33.9	29.5	29.8	13.2	80.5	68.3	50.5
Pneumococcal disease (invasive)	3.9	6.9	17.6	4.9	7.9	7.6	6.5	8.1	6.7
Poliomyelitis	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Rubella	–	0.1	–	<0.1	0.1	–	<0.1	<0.1	0.1
Rubella – congenital	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Tetanus	–	<0.1	–	<0.1	–	–	–	<0.1	<0.1
Varicella zoster (chickenpox)	16.3	NN	42.1	6.4	19.6	8.9	14.1	16.5	13.1
Varicella zoster (shingles)	23.9	NN	100.2	1.2	120.5	52.1	24.2	53.2	34.3
Varicella zoster (unspecified)	47.5	NN	3.3	117.4	8.7	27.4	82.4	49.3	75.8
Vectorborne diseases
Arbovirus infection (NEC)	–	0.1	–	0.5	–	–	<0.1	–	0.1
Barmah Forest virus infection	0.3	2.2	12.3	10.0	0.1	–	0.3	2.1	3.2
Dengue virus infection	4.2	5.0	25.3	8.3	4.3	3.3	5.7	17.5	7.3
Japanese encephalitis virus infection	–	–	–	–	0.1	–	–	–	<0.1
Kunjin virus infection	–	–	–	–	–	–	<0.1	–	<0.1
Malaria	2.6	1.2	4.5	1.8	0.4	0.8	1.2	1.9	1.4
Murray Valley encephalitis virus infection	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ross River virus infection	1.3	9.1	168.4	49.6	4.4	3.5	3.6	61.3	22.6
Zoonoses
Anthrax	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Australia bat lyssavirus	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Brucellosis	–	0.1	0.4	0.2	–	–	0.1	–	0.1
Leptospirosis	–	0.2	0.8	1.2	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.4
Lyssavirus (NEC)	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ornithosis	–	0.2	–	0.1	–	–	0.4	0.1	0.2
Q fever	0.3	2.4	0.4	5.1	0.6	–	0.6	0.2	2.0
Tularaemia	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Other bacterial infections
Legionellosis	0.5	0.9	2.9	2.0	2.4	1.6	1.5	4.5	1.8
Leprosy	–	<0.1	–	<0.1	0.1	–	<0.1	0.2	<0.1
Meningococcal infection††	0.5	0.5	1.2	0.8	2.0	0.4	0.6	0.7	0.7
Tuberculosis	7.8	6.3	11.4	3.5	2.8	1.7	7.7	5.4	5.7

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Table 6: Notified cases and notification rate for communicable diseases, Australia, 2009 to 2014

Disease	Number of notified cases						5 year mean	Ratio (2014: 5 year mean)	Notification rate per 100,000
	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014			2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
* Newly acquired hepatitis and syphilis < 2 years duration includes cases where the infection was determined to be acquired within 24 months prior to diagnosis. † Unspecified hepatitis and syphilis includes cases where the duration of infection could not be determined or is greater than 24 months. ‡ In Queensland, includes newly acquired hepatitis C cases. § Includes Chlamydia trachomatis identified from cervical, rectal, urine, urethral and throat samples, except for South Australia, which reports only cervical, urine and urethral specimens. From 1 July 2013 case definition changed to exclude all ocular infections. || The national case definitions for chlamydial, gonococcal and syphilis diagnoses include infections that may be acquired through a non-sexual mode (especially in children – e.g. perinatal infections, epidemic gonococcal conjunctivitis). ¶ Data for all states and territories are reported by diagnosis date, except Queensland, which is reported by notification receive date. ** This number may underrepresent the number of diphtheria cases in Australia. For more details please see the 2014 summary of diphtheria in the Vaccine Preventable Diseases section. †† Only invasive meningococcal disease is nationally notifiable. However, the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales also report conjunctival cases. NEC Not elsewhere classified. NN Not notifiable.
Bloodborne diseases
Hepatitis B (newly acquired)*	253	231	192	196	175	176	209.4	0.8	1.2	1.0	0.9	0.9	0.8	0.7
Hepatitis B (unspecified)†	6,963	6,796	6,404	6,443	6,940	6,494	6,709.2	1.0	32.1	30.8	28.7	28.3	30.0	27.7
Hepatitis C (newly acquired)*‡	400	383	411	472	398	433	412.8	1.0	2.3	2.2	2.3	2.6	2.2	2.3
Hepatitis C (unspecified)†	11,066	11,062	9,912	9,662	10,339	10,249	10,408.2	1.0	51.0	50.2	44.4	42.5	44.7	43.7
Hepatitis D	51	44	47	36	61	59	47.8	1.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3
Gastrointestinal diseases
Botulism	1	0	2	0	4	1	1.4	0.7	<0.1	–	<0.1	–	<0.1	<0.1
Campylobacteriosis	16,104	16,993	17,726	15,668	14,692	19,931	16,236.6	1.2	110.0	114.1	117.2	101.6	93.5	124.9
Cryptosporidiosis	4,624	1,482	1,812	3,145	3,846	2,405	2,981.8	0.8	21.3	6.7	8.1	13.8	16.6	10.2
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome	13	9	13	20	15	20	14.0	1.4	0.1	<0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Hepatitis A	563	267	145	166	190	231	266.2	0.9	2.6	1.2	0.6	0.7	0.8	1.0
Hepatitis E	33	37	41	32	34	56	35.4	1.6	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.2
Listeriosis	92	71	70	93	76	80	80.4	1.0	0.4	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.3
Salmonellosis	9,501	11,912	12,275	11,251	12,785	16,358	11,544.8	1.4	43.8	54.1	54.9	49.5	55.3	69.7
Shigellosis	617	552	493	548	538	1,051	549.6	1.9	2.8	2.5	2.2	2.4	2.3	4.5
Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli	128	80	95	111	180	115	118.8	1.0	0.6	0.4	0.4	0.5	0.8	0.5
Typhoid fever	115	96	135	125	152	119	124.6	1.0	0.5	0.4	0.6	0.5	0.7	0.5
Quarantinable diseases
Cholera	4	3	6	5	3	2	4.2	0.5	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1
Highly pathogenic avian influenza in humans	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Plague	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Rabies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Severe acute respiratory syndrome	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Smallpox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Viral haemorrhagic fever	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Yellow fever	0	0	2	0	0	0	0.4	–	–	–	<0.1	–	–	–
Sexually transmissible infections
Chlamydial infection§||	63,200	74,418	81,099	83,121	82,974	86,108	76,962.4	1.1	291.4	337.8	363.0	365.7	358.9	366.8
Donovanosis	1	1	0	1	0	1	0.6	1.7	<0.1	<0.1	–	<0.1	–	<0.1
Gonococcal infection||	8,274	10,320	12,095	13,880	14,902	15,675	11,894.2	1.3	38.1	46.8	54.1	61.1	64.5	66.8
Syphilis – congenital||	3	3	7	1	7	5	4.2	1.2	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1
Syphilis < 2 years duration*||¶	1,293	1,118	1,280	1,556	1,768	2,009	1,403.0	1.4	6.0	5.1	5.7	6.8	7.6	8.6
Syphilis > 2 years or unspecified duration†||	1,459	1,358	1,352	1,389	1,747	1,921	1,461.0	1.3	7.3	6.7	6.5	6.1	7.6	8.2
Vaccine preventable diseases
Diphtheria**	0	0	4	0	2	2	1.2	1.7	–	–	<0.1	–	<0.1	<0.1
Haemophilus influenzae type b	19	24	13	16	20	21	18.4	1.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
Influenza (laboratory confirmed)	59,026	13,466	27,233	44,571	28,311	67,742	34,521.4	2.0	272.1	61.1	121.9	196.1	122.5	288.6
Measles	104	70	194	199	162	340	145.8	2.3	0.5	0.3	0.9	0.9	0.7	1.4
Mumps	166	98	155	200	218	190	167.4	1.1	0.8	0.4	0.7	0.9	0.9	0.8
Pertussis	30,192	34,845	38,750	24,101	12,362	11,863	28,050.0	0.4	139.2	158.2	173.5	106.0	53.5	50.5
Pneumococcal disease (invasive)	1,556	1,640	1,883	1,822	1,549	1,564	1,690.0	0.9	7.2	7.4	8.4	8.0	6.7	6.7
Poliomyelitis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Rubella	27	44	58	37	25	17	38.2	0.4	0.1	0.2	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.1
Rubella – congenital	0	0	0	1	2	0	0.6	–	–	–	–	<0.1	<0.1	–
Tetanus	3	2	3	7	4	3	3.8	0.8	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1
Varicella zoster (chickenpox)	1,796	1,793	2,100	1,983	2,127	2,088	1,959.8	1.1	12.3	12.0	13.9	12.9	13.5	13.1
Varicella zoster (shingles)	2,779	3,045	4,022	4,506	5,038	5,473	3,878.0	1.4	19.0	20.5	26.6	29.2	32.1	34.3
Varicella zoster (unspecified)	7,425	8,155	8,608	9,421	10,983	12,097	8,918.4	1.4	50.7	54.8	56.9	61.1	69.9	75.8
Vectorborne diseases
Arbovirus infection (NEC)	5	14	16	6	19	28	12.0	2.3	<0.1	0.1	0.1	<0.1	0.1	0.1
Barmah Forest virus infection	1,473	1,470	1,863	1,730	4,239	741	2,155.0	0.3	6.8	6.7	8.3	7.6	18.3	3.2
Dengue virus infection	1,402	1,228	821	1,541	1,840	1,716	1,366.6	1.3	6.5	5.6	3.7	6.8	8.0	7.3
Japanese encephalitis virus infection	0	0	0	1	4	1	1.0	1.0	–	–	–	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1
Kunjin virus infection	2	2	2	0	2	1	1.6	0.6	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	–	<0.1	<0.1
Malaria	504	405	418	344	416	322	418.2	0.8	2.3	1.8	1.9	1.5	1.8	1.4
Murray Valley encephalitis virus infection	4	0	16	1	1	0	4.4	<0.1	<0.1	–	0.1	<0.1	<0.1	–
Ross River virus infection	4,741	5,129	5,137	4,682	4,316	5,316	4,801.0	1.1	21.9	23.3	23.0	20.6	18.7	22.6
Zoonoses
Anthrax	0	1	0	0	0	0	0.2	–	–	<0.1	–	–	–	–
Australian bat lyssavirus	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.2	–	–	–	–	–	<0.1	–
Brucellosis	32	21	37	31	14	17	27.0	0.6	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1
Leptospirosis	141	131	215	114	88	88	137.8	0.6	0.7	0.6	1.0	0.5	0.4	0.4
Lyssavirus (NEC)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Ornithosis	63	58	89	76	47	41	66.6	0.6	0.3	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.2	0.2
Q fever	314	338	359	369	487	469	373.4	1.3	1.4	1.5	1.6	1.6	2.1	2.0
Tularaemia	0	0	2	0	0	0	0.4	–	–	–	<0.1	–	–	–
Other bacterial infections
Legionellosis	297	307	358	383	508	424	370.6	1.1	1.4	1.4	1.6	1.7	2.2	1.8
Leprosy	5	10	10	8	14	9	9.4	1.0	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	<0.1	0.1	<0.1
Meningococcal infection††	260	228	242	223	149	170	220.4	0.8	1.2	1.0	1.1	1.0	0.6	0.7
Tuberculosis	1,307	1,364	1,389	1,316	1,263	1,339	1,327.8	1.0	6.0	6.2	6.2	5.8	5.5	5.7
Total	238,401	211,124	239,611	245,610	226,037	275,581

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Data completeness

Indigenous status

Indigenous status is usually obtained from clinical notifications and completeness varies by disease and by state and territory. This reflects differences in notification requirements (i.e. depending on the jurisdiction, some diseases are primarily or completely notified by pathology laboratories rather than clinicians) and the fact that it is not possible to follow up all cases for diseases with a large volume of notifications and/or not requiring specific case-based public health action.

Indigenous status was complete in 45% of all notifications reported to NNDSS in 2014. Indigenous status was complete in 95% of data reported in the Northern Territory, 93% in Western Australia and 91% in South Australia. In the remaining jurisdictions, Indigenous status completeness ranged from 14% to 47% (Table 7).

Table 7: Indigenous status completeness of National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System data, Australia, 2014, by state or territory

	State or territory
	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas.	Vic.	WA	Aust.
Total notifications	4,331	67,139	8,069	69,207	25,083	4,689	64,172	32,891	275,581
Indigenous status
Unknown/ missing	2,284	57,507	437	39,027	2,191	3,066	43,940	2,232	150,684
Per cent complete	47	14	95	44	91	35	32	93	45

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Data completeness on Indigenous status also varied by disease as summarised in Appendix 3. In 2009, CDNA set target thresholds of 95% completeness for 18 priority diseases (17 notifiable to NNDSS and HIV, which are provided to the Kirby Institute) (Table 8) and 80% completeness for the remainder of the notifiable diseases as part of its ‘Closing the Gap’ strategy. Of all diseases notified to the NNDSS in 2014, 31 (62%) equalled or exceeded 80% completeness for Indigenous status and 15 (48%) were priority diseases.

Table 8: Percentage completeness of priority diseases for Indigenous status completeness of National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System data, Australia, 2014, by state or territory

Priority disease	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas.	Vic.	WA	Aust.
NN Not notifiable.
Congenital syphilis	No cases	No cases	100	No cases	No cases	No cases	No cases	No cases	100
Dengue virus (locally acquired)	No cases	100	No cases	69	100	No cases	67	100	69
Donovanosis	No cases	No cases	No cases	No cases	No cases	No cases	No cases	100	100
Gonococcal infection	100	45	99	59	99	94	55	100	66
Haemophilus influenzae type b	No cases	100	100	100	100	No cases	100	100	100
Hepatitis A	100	100	100	80	100	100	100	100	96
Hepatitis B (newly acquired)	100	100	100	74	100	100	98	100	92
Hepatitis C (newly acquired)	100	100	100	NN	100	100	95	99	98
Leprosy	No cases	100	No cases	100	100	No cases	100	100	100
Measles	100	88	98	97	100	100	97	100	96
Meningococcal disease (invasive)	100	100	100	100	100	100	94	100	99
Pertussis <5 years	100	91	100	65	100	100	81	97	85
Pneumococcal disease <5 years	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100
Pneumococcal disease ≥50 years	100	99	100	98	100	100	91	100	97
Shigellosis	100	83	98	61	100	100	80	100	81
Syphilis < 2 years	100	90	100	95	100	100	89	100	92
Tuberculosis	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100	100

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In 2014, 11 of the 17 priority diseases notified to NNDSS had an Indigenous completeness that exceeded 95% (congenital syphilis, donovanosis, Haemophilus influenzae type b, hepatitis A, hepatitis C (newly acquired), measles, meningococcal infection, pneumococcal disease less than 5 years, pneumococcal disease ≥ 50 years, leprosy, and tuberculosis). This was an improvement on 2013 where 7 priority diseases exceeded 95% completeness. There has been a notable improvement in completeness of Indigenous status for hepatitis C (newly acquired) notifications from 88% in 2012 to 98% in 2014.

A review of the NNDSS priority diseases between 2004 and 2014 showed that meningococcal disease (invasive) and tuberculosis exceeded the 95% threshold for completeness of Indigenous status over the entire period. They ranged from 95%–97% and 98%–100% respectively.

Six of the priority diseases were consistently below the 95% threshold over the entire period (Figure 3):

• dengue virus infection (locally acquired)
• gonococcal infection
• hepatitis B (newly acquired)
• hepatitis C (newly acquired)
• pertussis less than 5 years
• shigellosis.

Figure 3: Priority diseases consistently below the 95% threshold for Indigenous completeness, 2004 to 2014

Text version of Figure 3 (TXT 1 KB)

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The completeness of the Indigenous status for 8 of the priority diseases has improved since 2004:

• congenital syphilis, increasing from 93% in 2004 to 100% in 2014;
• Haemophilus influenzae type b, increasing from 93% in 2004 to 100% in 2014
• hepatitis A, increasing from 90% in 2004 to 96% in 2014;
• hepatitis B (newly acquired), increasing from 81% in 2004 to 92% in 2014;
• hepatitis C (newly acquired), increasing from 85% in 2004 to 98% in 2014;
• pneumococcal disease less than 5 years, increasing from 89% in 2004 to 100% in 2014;
• pneumococcal disease 50 years or over, increasing from 90% in 2004 to 97% in 2014; and
• shigellosis, increasing from 72% in 2004 to 81% in 2014.

The completeness of Indigenous status for 2 diseases has not improved since 2004. Dengue virus infection (locally acquired), decreased from 86% in 2004 to 69% in 2014, and gonococcal infection, decreased from 69% in 2004 to 66% in 2014.

The completeness of Indigenous status for syphilis < 2 years was 92% in 2014 but has regularly exceeded the 95% threshold over the period.

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Place of acquisition

The place of acquisition is where the disease is known to have been acquired, either locally or overseas and is usually obtained through public health follow-up. Follow-up and thus completeness varies by disease and by jurisdiction. It is not possible to follow-up all cases for diseases with a large volume of notifications. Place of acquisition is not usually completed for diseases unless overseas travel is known to be a risk factor.

Through the NSC, jurisdictions have agreed that completeness for place of acquisition should be 100% for the following 24 priority diseases:

• arbovirus infection (NEC)
• brucellosis
• cholera
• dengue virus infection
• hepatitis A
• highly pathogenic avian influenza in humans
• Japanese encephalitis virus infection
• Kunjin virus infection
• legionellosis
• leprosy
• malaria
• measles
• Murray Valley encephalitis virus infection
• plague
• poliomyelitis
• Q fever
• rabies
• rubella
• severe acute respiratory syndrome
• smallpox
• tularaemia
• typhoid fever
• viral haemorrhagic fever (NEC)
• yellow fever.

In 2014, 14 of the 24 priority diseases had cases notified to NNDSS, the overall completeness for place of acquisition for these diseases was 96%. The completeness was 100% in 2014 for cholera, brucellosis, leprosy, Kunjin virus infection and Japanese encephalitis virus infection (Table 9).

Table 9: Percentage completeness of priority diseases* for place of acquisition completeness of National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System data, Australia, 2014, by state or territory

Disease	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
* Only includes priority diseases notified to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System in 2010 to 2014 are included.
Cholera	100	100	100	100	100
Legionellosis	97	83	85	80	86
Murray Valley encephalitis virus infection	No cases	88	100	100	No cases
Tularaemia	No cases	100	No cases	No cases	No cases
Malaria	94	97	97	96	98
Dengue virus infection	>99	98	98	99	99
Yellow fever	No cases	100	No cases	No cases	No cases
Brucellosis	81	24	36	100	100
Hepatitis A	>99	100	94	95	99
Typhoid fever	100	98	94	98	97
Rubella	89	74	62	80	53
Leprosy	80	90	75	79	100
Measles	100	89	95	98	>99
Kunjin virus infection	50	100	No cases	100	100
Japanese encephalitis virus infection	No cases	No cases	100	100	100
Flavivirus unspecified	93	75	100	100	96
Q fever	81	57	78	89	89
Total	96	88	92	95	96

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