Chapter 2. Functions And Duties Of The State Department Of Health Services of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 105. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 2.

The department shall examine into the causes of communicable disease in man and domestic animals occurring or likely to occur in this state.

(a) The department shall establish a list of reportable diseases and conditions. For each reportable disease and condition, the department shall specify the timeliness requirements related to the reporting of each disease and condition, and the mechanisms required for, and the content to be included in, reports made pursuant to this section. The list of reportable diseases and conditions may include both communicable and noncommunicable diseases. The list may include those diseases that are either known to be, or suspected of being, transmitted by milk or milk-based products. The list may be modified at any time by the department, after consultation with the California Conference of Local Health Officers. Modification of the list shall be exempt from the administrative regulation and rulemaking requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and shall be implemented without being adopted as a regulation, except that the revised list shall be filed with the Secretary of State and printed in the California Code of Regulations as required pursuant to subdivision (e). Those diseases listed as reportable shall be properly reported as required to the department by the health officer.
  (b) The department shall establish a list of communicable diseases and conditions for which clinical laboratories shall submit a culture or a specimen to the local public health laboratory. The list shall set forth the conditions under which the culture and specimen shall also be submitted to the State Public Health Laboratory. The list may be modified at any time by the department, in consultation with appropriate local public health stakeholders, including, but not limited to, local health officers and public health laboratory directors. Both establishment and modification of the list shall be exempt from the administrative regulation and rulemaking requirements of Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and shall be implemented without being adopted as a regulation, except that the initial list and any modifications shall be filed with the Secretary of State and printed in the California Code of Regulations as required pursuant to subdivision (e).
  (c) The department may from time to time adopt and enforce regulations requiring strict or modified isolation, or quarantine, for any of the contagious, infectious, or communicable diseases, if in the opinion of the department the action is necessary for the protection of the public health.
  (d) The health officer may require strict or modified isolation, or quarantine, for any case of contagious, infectious, or communicable disease, when this action is necessary for the protection of the public health.
  (e) The lists established pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) and any subsequent modifications shall be published in Title 17 of the California Code of Regulations.
  (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no civil or criminal penalty, fine, sanction, or finding, or denial, suspension, or revocation of licensure for any person or facility may be imposed based upon a failure to provide the notification of a reportable disease or condition or to provide the submission of a culture or specimen that is required under this section, unless the name of the disease or condition that is required to be reported, or for which a culture or specimen is required to be submitted, was printed in the California Code of Regulations and the department notified the person or facility of the disease or condition at least six months prior to the date of the claimed failure to report or submit.
  (g) Commencing July 1, 2009, or within one year of the establishment of a state electronic laboratory reporting system, whichever is later, a report generated pursuant to this section, or Section 121022, by a laboratory shall be submitted electronically in a manner specified by the department. The department shall allow laboratories that receive incomplete patient information to report the name of the provider who submitted the request to the local health officer.
  (h) The department may, through its Internet Web site and via electronic mail, advise out-of-state laboratories that are known to the department to test specimens from California residents of the new reporting requirements.

The department may establish and maintain places of quarantine or isolation.

Upon being informed by a health officer of any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease the department may take measures as are necessary to ascertain the nature of the disease and prevent its spread. To that end, the department may, if it considers it proper, take possession or control of the body of any living person, or the corpse of any deceased person.

(a) The state director may order examinations for tuberculosis infection in the following persons for the purpose of directing preventive measures:
  (1) Persons in close contact with persons with infectious tuberculosis disease.
  (2) Other persons for whom the state director has reasonable grounds to determine are at heightened risk of tuberculosis exposure.
  (b) An order for examination for tuberculosis infection shall be in writing and shall include other terms and conditions as may be necessary to protect the public health.

The department may quarantine, isolate, inspect, and disinfect persons, animals, houses, rooms, other property, places, cities, or localities, whenever in its judgment the action is necessary to protect or preserve the public health.

The department may destroy such objects as bedding, carpets, household goods, furnishings, materials, clothing, or animals, when ordinary means of disinfection are considered unsafe, and when the property is in its judgment, an imminent menace to the public health.

Pursuant to Section 11158 of the Government Code, the sheriff of each county, or city and county, may enforce within the county, or the city and county, all orders of the State Department of Public Health issued for the purpose of preventing the spread of any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease. Every peace officer of every political subdivision of the county, or city and county, may enforce within the area subject to his or her jurisdiction all orders of the State Department of Public Health issued for the purpose of preventing the spread of any contagious, infectious, or communicable disease. This section is not a limitation on the authority of peace officers or public officers to enforce orders of the State Department of Public Health. When deciding whether to request this assistance in enforcement of its orders, the State Department of Public Health may consider whether it would be necessary to advise the enforcement agency of any measures that should be taken to prevent infection of the enforcement officers.

(a) Any manufacturer or distributor of the influenza vaccine, or nonprofit health care service plan that exclusively contracts with a single medical group in a specified geographic area to provide, or to arrange for the provision of, medical services to its enrollees, shall report the information described in subdivision (c) relating to the supply of the influenza vaccine to the department upon notice from the department.
  (b) Within each county or city health jurisdiction, entities that have possession of, or have a legal right to obtain possession of, the influenza vaccine, or entities that are conducting or intend to conduct influenza clinics for the public, their residents, or their employees, except those entities described in subdivision (a), shall cooperate with the local health officer in determining local inventories of influenza vaccine, including providing inventory, orders, and distribution lists in a timely manner, when necessary.
  (c) The information reported pursuant to subdivision (a) shall include, but is not limited to, the amount of the influenza vaccine that has been shipped, and the name, address, and, if applicable, the telephone number of the recipient.
  (d) Subdivisions (a), (b), and (c) do not apply to a physician and surgeon practice, unless the practice is an occupational health provider who conducts influenza vaccination campaigns on behalf of a corporation.
  (e) It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this section to assist small physician and surgeon practices, nursing facilities, and other health care providers that provide care for patients at risk of illness or death from influenza by facilitating the sharing of vaccine supplies, if necessary, between providers within a local jurisdiction.
  (f) If a business believes that the information required by this section involves the release of a trade secret, the business shall nevertheless disclose the information to the department, and shall notify the department in writing of that belief at the time of disclosure. As used in this section, "trade secret" has the meanings given to it by Section 6254.7 of the Government Code and Section 1061 of the Evidence Code. Any information, including identifying information, including, but not limited to, the name of the agent or contact person of an entity that receives the influenza vaccine from a manufacturer or distributor, or nonprofit health care service plan described in subdivision (a), and the receiving entity's address and telephone number, that is reported pursuant to this section shall not be disclosed by the department to anyone, except to an officer or employee of the county, city, city and county, or the state in connection with the official duties of that officer or employee to protect the public health.