The Georgia Department of Public Health, under the legal authority of OCGA 31-12-2 and with the approval of the Board of Human Resources, has designated certain diseases and conditions notifiable. The purpose of the reportable disease surveillance is to:

1. identify in a timely way any diseases or conditions that may require immediate public health intervention and follow up;
2. detect changing trends or patterns in disease occurrence;
3. identify areas or communities that require special public health response as a result of changes in disease patterns; and
4. assess and evaluate control and prevention interventions.

In Georgia, public health surveillance is conducted on more than 50 diseases and conditions. The data are collected by local and state health agencies who are responsible for analyzing, interpreting and disseminating the information to "those who need to know" for administrative, program planning, and decision making purposes.