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There were 6,899 notifications to the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) with a notification date in May 2000 (Table 1). Data by date of report for weeks 18 to 21, ending 28 May 2000, are included in this issue of CDI (Table 2). The number of reports for selected diseases¹ have been compared with a 5 year mean, calculated using April to June data for the previous five years (Figure 6).

There were 2,083 reports received by the Virology and Serology Laboratory Reporting Scheme (LabVISE) in the reporting period, 1 to 31 May 2000 (Tables 3 and 4).

The Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network (ASPREN) data for weeks 18 to 21, ending 28 May 2000, are included in this issue of <em>CDI</em> (Table 5).

Figure 6. Selected¹ diseases from the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System, comparison of provisional totals for the period 1 to 31 May 2000 with historical data²

1. Selected diseases are chosen each calendar month according to current activity
2. Ratio of current month total to mean of the April to June data for the previous five years

Top of pageTable 1. Notifications of diseases received by State and Territory health authorities in the period 1 to 31 May 2000, by date of notification^#

Disease	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA	Total May 20001	Total April 20001	Total May 19991	Last 5 years mean	Year to date 2000	Last 5 years YTD mean	Ratio*
Bloodborne
Hepatitis B (incident)	0	3	0	6	3	0	4	6	22	20	35	23	122	124	1.0
Hepatitis B (unspecified)2	4	178	0	79	0	5	217	81	564	589	630	586	3,301	2,912	1.0
Hepatitis C (incident)	0	3	0	0	4	3	1	3	14	24	29	17	139	82	0.8
Hepatitis C (unspecified)2	17	457	6	311	52	27	527	135	1,532	1,496	1,741	1,317	9,018	6,535	1.2
Hepatitis D	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2	2	7	6	0.0
Gastrointestinal diseases
Botulism	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0.0
Campylobacterosis3	33	-	14	359	106	27	447	140	1,126	937	994	869	5,263	4,720	1.3
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome	NN	0	0	0	0	0	NN	0	0	1	2	2	6	4	0.0
Hepatitis A	0	11	3	13	4	1	23	12	67	82	117	173	459	1,094	0.4
Hepatitis E	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0.0
Listeriosis	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	1	4	6	5	4	36	30	1.0
Salmonellosis	8	121	24	210	42	10	93	76	584	525	497	521	3,191	3,679	1.1
Shigellosis3	2	-	11	10	7	0	8	14	52	49	40	56	230	327	0.9
SLTEC,VTEC4	NN	0	0	NN	1	0	0	0	1	3	1	2	17	6	0.5
Typhoid	0	2	0	1	1	0	0	1	5	7	9	5	34	40	1.0
Yersiniosis3	0	-	0	5	0	0	2	0	7	4	8	16	40	119	0.4
Quarantinable diseases
Cholera	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	0.0
Plague	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	na
Rabies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	na
Viral haemorrhagic fever	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	na
Yellow Fever	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	na
Sexually transmissible diseases
Chancroid	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0.0
Chlamydial infection5	18	139	108	432	60	35	289	160	1,241	1,142	1,163	828	6,337	4,158	1.5
Donovanosis	0	0	1	0	NN	0	0	0	1	1	1	3	8	21	0.3
Gonococcal infection6	5	55	138	100	11	3	85	80	477	480	510	415	2,521	2,039	1.1
Lymphogranuloma venereum	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	na
Syphilis7	1	31	21	80	0	0	0	6	139	121	183	142	701	729	1.0
Vaccine preventable diseases
Diphtheria	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	na
Haemophilus influenzae type b	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	5	3	21	0.0
Measles	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	5	17	17	42	53	262	0.1
Mumps	2	11	0	0	0	0	4	0	17	14	18	14	76	68	1.2
Pertussis	3	71	0	28	14	11	51	3	181	193	258	325	1,289	2,028	0.6
Poliomyelitis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	na
Rubella8	0	3	0	5	1	1	6	0	16	17	33	95	79	600	0.2
Tetanus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	3	0.0
Vectorborne diseases
Arbovirus infection NEC	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	6	8	17	1	4	54	39	2.0
Barmah Forest virus infection	0	29	2	36	0	0	1	3	71	50	81	74	302	446	1.0
Dengue	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	3	18	4	11	175	96	0.3
Malaria	0	22	6	53	5	1	20	3	110	67	51	58	449	367	1.9
Ross River virus infection	1	131	10	147	25	3	41	118	476	568	495	524	3,063	4,038	0.9
Zoonoses
Brucellosis	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	2	6	13	0.5
Hydatid infection	0	NN	0	0	1	0	1	2	4	1	4	3	18	13	1.3
Leptospirosis	0	12	0	18	0	0	3	0	33	19	50	18	120	97	1.8
Ornithosis	0	NN	0	NN	0	0	4	0	4	8	8	7	34	34	0.6
Q fever	0	6	0	23	0	1	2	0	32	42	40	48	214	216	0.7
Other
Legionellosis	1	5	0	6	6	2	14	1	35	152	25	18	272	98	1.9
Leprosy	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0.0
Meningococcal infection	0	13	2	1	1	1	7	9	34	38	41	34	165	125	1.0
Tuberculosis	0	8	0	1	0	1	18	5	33	42	79	77	317	418	0.4
Total	95	1,311	348	1,933	345	132	1,870	865	6,899	6,753	7,180	6,337	38,123	35,616

1. Totals comprise data from all States and Territories. Cumulative figures are subject to retrospective revision so there may be discrepancies between the number of new notifications and the increment in the cumulative figure from the previous period.
2. Unspecified numbers should be interpreted with some caution as the magnitude may be a reflection of the numbers of tests being carried out.
3. Not reported for NSW because it is only notifiable as 'foodborne disease' or 'gastroenteritis in an institution'.
4. Infections with Shiga-like toxin (verotoxin) producing E. coli (SLTEC/VTEC).
5. WA: genital only.
6. NT, Qld, SA, Vic and WA: includes gonococcal neonatal ophthalmia.
7. Includes congenital syphilis.
8. Includes congenital rubella.
# Date of notification = a composite of three components: (i) the true onset date from a clinician, if available, (ii) the date the laboratory test was ordered, or (iii) the date reported to the public health unit.
NN Not Notifiable.
NEC Not Elsewhere Classified.
- Elsewhere Classified.
na Not applicable.
* Ratio = ratio of current month total to mean of last 5 years calculated as described above.

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Table 2. Notifications of diseases received by State and Territory health authorities for weeks 18 to 21, by date of report,* May 2000

Week number	18	19	20	21	Year to date total
Week ending on	7 May 2000	14 May 2000	21 May 2000	28 May 2000
Disease1
Bloodborne diseases
Hepatitis B (incident)	1	5	8	6	105
Hepatitis B (unspecified)2	109	212	159	140	2,826
Hepatitis C (incident)	1	5	6	3	134
Hepatitis C (unspecified)2	350	439	444	365	7,688
Hepatitis D	1	0	0	0	6
Gastrointestinal diseases
Botulism	0	0	0	0	0
Campylobacterosis3	240	229	311	257	4,167
Haemolytic uraemic syndrome	1	0	0	0	5
Hepatitis A	25	17	26	16	395
Hepatitis E	0	0	0	0	0
Listeriosis	2	1	1	2	31
Salmonellosis	142	162	189	150	2,620
Shigellosis3	13	22	12	18	164
SLTEC,VTEC4	1	2	0	0	17
Typhoid	1	1	2	1	32
Yersiniosis3	3	0	1	1	33
Quarantinable diseases
Cholera	0	0	0	0	1
Plague	0	0	0	0	0
Rabies	0	0	0	0	0
Viral haemorrhagic fever	0	0	0	0	0
Yellow Fever	0	0	0	0	0
Sexually transmissible diseases
Chancroid	0	0	0	0	0
Chlamydial infection5	289	291	359	293	5,118
Donovanosis	0	0	0	0	8
Gonococcal infection6	98	152	105	177	2,001
Lymphogranuloma venereum	0	0	0	0	0
Syphilis7	57	29	32	50	588
Vaccine preventable diseases
Diphtheria	0	0	0	0	0
Haemophilus influenzae type b	0	0	0	0	5
Measles	4	0	0	6	46
Mumps	2	5	5	7	59
Pertussis	70	61	73	60	1,232
Poliomyelitis	0	0	0	0	0
Rubella8	2	6	7	1	64
Tetanus	0	0	0	0	4
Vectorborne diseases
Arbovirus infection NEC	2	10	5	3	35
Barmah Forest virus infection	8	24	32	11	232
Dengue	8	8	1	3	174
Malaria	33	30	22	22	328
Ross River virus infection	185	179	178	113	2,512
Zoonoses
Brucellosis	0	0	1	0	6
Hydatid infection	0	1	3	1	13
Leptospirosis	2	3	9	17	86
Ornithosis	0	2	10	0	31
Q fever	11	3	16	7	193
Other
Legionellosis	57	30	19	6	158
Leprosy	0	0	0	0	0
Meningococcal infection	6	6	11	7	137
Tuberculosis	14	18	17	15	330
Total	1,738	1,953	2,064	1,758	31,584

1. Totals comprise data from all States and Territories. Cumulative figures are subject to retrospective revision so there may be discrepancies between the number of new notifications and the increment in the cumulative figure from the previous period.
2. Unspecified numbers should be interpreted with some caution as the magnitude may be a reflection of the numbers of tests being carried out.
3. Not reported for NSW because it is only notifiable as 'foodborne disease' or 'gastroenteritis in an institution'.
4. Infections with Shiga-like toxin (verotoxin) producing E. coli (SLTEC/VTEC).
5. WA: genital only.
6. NT, Qld, SA, Vic and WA: includes gonococcal neonatal ophthalmia.
7. Includes congenital syphilis.
8. Includes congenital rubella.
* Date of report is the date the public health unit received the report.
NN Not Notifiable.
NEC Not Elsewhere Classified.
- Elsewhere Classified.

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Table 3. Virology and serology laboratory reports by contributing laboratories for the reporting period 1 to 31 May 2000¹

State or Territory	Laboratory	This period	Total this period2
Australian Capital Territory	The Canberra Hospital	23	39
New South Wales	Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead	137	143
	New Children's Hospital, Westmead	100	112
	Repatriation General Hospital, Concord	0	0
	Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown	36	84
	South West Area Pathology Service, Liverpool	0	0
Queensland	Queensland Medical Laboratory, West End	407	421
	Townsville General Hospital	10	17
South Australia	Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science, Adelaide	451	329
Tasmania	Northern Tasmanian Pathology Service, Launceston	4	0
	Royal Hobart Hospital, Hobart	0	0
Victoria	Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne	0	6
	Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne	122	105
	Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, Fairfield	140	229
Western Australia	PathCentre Virology, Perth	587	1,463
	Princess Margaret Hospital, Perth	49	62
	Western Diagnostic Pathology	17	28
Total		2,083	3,038

1. The complete list of laboratories reporting for the 12 months, January to December 2000, will appear in every report from January 2000 regardless of whether reports were received in this reporting period. Reports are not always received from all laboratories.
2. Total reports include both reports for the current period and outstanding reports to date.

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Table 4. Laboratory virology and serology reports by State or Territory¹ for the reporting period 1 to 31 May 2000, and total reports for the year²

	State or Territory1								This period 2000	This period 1999	Year to date 20003	Year to date 1999
	ACT	NSW	NT	Qld	SA	Tas	Vic	WA
Measles, mumps, rubella
Measles virus	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	3	10	21	127
Mumps virus	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	3	6	29	27
Rubella virus	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	3	10	19	39
Hepatitis viruses
Hepatitis A virus	0	0	0	4	5	0	0	8	17	27	85	173
Arboviruses
Ross River virus	0	10	5	34	37	1	5	104	196	180	988	973
Barmah Forest virus	0	1	2	7	0	0	0	2	12	33	95	108
Dengue not typed	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	3	6	7	161	31
Murray Valley encephalitis virus	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	11	12	1	19	2
Kunjin virus	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	2	4	4
Flavivirus (unspecified)	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	35	16
Adenoviruses
Adenovirus type 3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	4	12	16
Adenovirus type 40	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	15	15	2	59	22
Adenovirus not typed/pending	0	7	2	0	32	0	4	40	85	86	449	441
Herpes viruses
Herpes virus type 6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	1	4	4
Cytomegalovirus	5	17	0	21	43	1	25	15	127	97	529	508
Varicella-zoster virus	1	8	0	28	11	0	30	42	120	147	643	706
Epstein-Barr virus	0	7	1	70	106	0	8	25	217	273	928	1,071
Other DNA viruses
Papovavirus group	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	5	7
Molluscum contagiosum	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	8	6
Contagious pustular dermatitis (Orf virus)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	3	0	6	6
Parvovirus	0	0	0	0	5	1	4	18	28	38	140	169
Picornavirus family
Coxsackievirus A9	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	5
Echovirus type 7	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0	16	1
Echovirus type 22	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	11
Echovirus type 30	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	4	0	95	6
Echovirus type 33	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
Rhinovirus (all types)	0	22	0	0	0	0	2	17	41	37	166	144
Enterovirus not typed/pending	1	5	0	2	1	0	41	16	66	39	515	297
Ortho/paramyxoviruses
Influenza A virus	0	5	1	0	20	0	2	9	37	147	264	307
Influenza B virus	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	8	12	12	50	55
Parainfluenza virus type 1	0	0	0	3	13	0	4	18	38	5	148	18
Parainfluenza virus type 2	0	1	0	0	2	0	1	2	6	19	16	55
Parainfluenza virus type 3	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	6	11	19	97	170
Respiratory syncytial virus	7	121	0	17	16	0	53	88	302	222	702	550
Other RNA viruses
Rotavirus	5	26	0	0	26	0	3	3	63	124	208	338
Norwalk agent	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	12	4	29
Other
Chlamydia trachomatis not typed	5	50	59	83	45	4	13	106	365	263	1,496	1,259
Chlamydia psittaci	0	0	0	0	0	0	8	1	9	7	40	35
Chlamydia species	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	5	9
Mycoplasma pneumoniae	0	3	2	15	9	0	8	8	45	85	231	453
Coxiella burnetii (Q fever)	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	4	24	31	78
Streptococcus group A	0	3	3	18	0	0	0	0	24	26	160	28
Bordetella pertussis	1	1	0	7	3	0	34	1	47	79	225	276
Legionella pneumophila	0	0	0	0	7	0	0	3	10	2	13	14
Legionella longbeachae	2	1	0	0	2	0	0	2	7	3	29	17
Cryptococcus species	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	0	3	0	5	6
Leptospira species	0	3	0	3	1	0	0	0	7	9	21	9
Treponema pallidum	0	3	20	30	50	0	0	1	104	45	275	53
Toxoplasma gondii	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	1	6	5
Echinococcus granulosus	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	4	8	0	13	0
Total	27	304	98	345	453	8	255	593	2,083	2,110	9,078	8,684

1. State or Territory of postcode, if reported, otherwise State or Territory of reporting laboratory.
2. From January 2000 data presented are for reports with report dates in the current period. Previously reports included all data received in that period.
3. Totals comprise data from all laboratories. Cumulative figures are subject to retrospective revision, so there may be discrepancies between the number of new notifications and the increment in the cumulative figure from the previous period.
- No data received this period.

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Table 5. Australian Sentinel Practice Research Network reports, weeks 18 to 21, 2000

Week number	18		19		20		21
Week ending on	7 May 2000		14 May 2000		21 May 2000		28 May 2000
Doctors reporting	66		71		68		69
Total encounters	8,339		9,048		7,946		8,596
Condition	Reports	Rate per 1,000 encounters	Reports	Rate per 1,000 encounters	Reports	Rate per 1,000 encounters	Reports	Rate per 1,000 encounters
Influenza	40	4.8	39	4.3	49	6.2	62	7.2
Chickenpox	9	1.1	13	1.4	13	1.6	12	1.4
Gastroenteritis	61	7.3	60	6.6	66	8.3	59	6.9
Gastroenteritis with stool culture	12	1.4	17	1.9	13	1.6	17	2.0
ADT immunisations	52	6.2	53	5.9	46	5.8	47	5.5

The NNDSS is conducted under the auspices of the Communicable Diseases Network Australia New Zealand. The system coordinates the national surveillance of more than 40 communicable diseases or disease groups endorsed by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Notifications of these diseases are made to State and Territory health authorities under the provisions of their respective public health legislations. De-identified core unit data are supplied fortnightly for collation, analysis and dissemination. For further information, see Commun Dis Intell 2000;24:6-7.

LabVISE is a sentinel reporting scheme. Currently 17 laboratories contribute data on the laboratory identification of viruses and other organisms. This number may change throughout the year. Data are collated and published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence every four weeks. These data should be interpreted with caution as the number and type of reports received is subject to a number of biases. For further information, see Commun Dis Intell 2000;24:10.

ASPREN currently comprises about 120 general practitioners from throughout the country. Between 7,000 and 8,000 consultations are reported each week, with special attention to 14 conditions chosen for sentinel surveillance in 2000. CDI reports the consultation rates for five of these. For further information, including case definitions, see Commun Dis Intell 2000;24:7-8.


This article was published in Communicable Diseases Intelligence Volume 24, No 6, June 2000.