The Norwegian Institute of Public Health runs the Norwegian Surveillance System for Communicable Diseases, co-ordinating the monitoring of health institutions and participating in the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the World Health Organization's surveillance of infectious diseases.

Group A diseases

71 diseases are reported by medical microbiological laboratories and clinicians to MSIS with full patient identification. Copies of the notifications from clinicians are sent to the Municipal Medical Officer in the patient's municipality.

• AIDS
• Anthrax
• Botulism
• Brucellosis
• Campylobacteriosis
• Chlamydia genital infections
• Cholera
• Co-infection hiv and tuberculosis
• Cryptosporidosis
• Dengue fever
• Diphtheria
• Echinococcus
• Enteropathogen E. coli enteritis
• Giardiasis
• Gonorrhea
• Haemophilus influenzae, systemic disease
• Hemorrhagic fever
• Hemolytic uremic syndrome, diarrhoea associated
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• HIV infection
• HPV-infection causing cancer or pre-cancerous lesions
• Influenza caused by virus with pandemic potential
• Legionellosis
• Leprosy
• Listeriosis
• Lyme borreliosis
• Lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV)
• Malaria
• Measles
• Meningococcal systemic disease
• Mumps
• Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome  (Nephropathia epidemica)
• Paratyphoid fever
• Pertussis
• Plague
• Pneumococcal systemic disease
• Poliomyelitis
• Q-fever
• Prion diseases
• Rabies
• Relapsing Fever
• Rubella
• Salmonellosis
• Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
• Shewanella infection
• Shigellosis
• Smallpox
• Streptococcus Group A systemic disease
• Streptococcus Group B systemic disease
• Syphils
• Tetanus
• Trichinosis
• Tuberculosis
• Tularaemia
• Typhoid fever
• Typhus (epidemic)
• Vibrio infection
• Viral infections in central nervous system
• West Nile fever
• Yellow fever
• Yersiniosis
• Infection or carrier state of microbes with special resistance patterns
• Infection or carrier state of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
• Infection or carrier state of Streptococcus pneumoniae with reduced susceptibility to penicillin
• Infection or carrier state of vancomycinresistant Enterococcus
• Infection or carrier state of toxinproducing Clostridium difficile

Group C diseases

This group includes only influenza-like disease (ILI). Since 2014 influenza-like illness (ILI) is monitored through the Norwegian Syndromic Surveillance System (NorSSS), an automated electronic system that weekly provides data about the occurrence of influenza-like illness in each county. Data from all general practitioners and emergency clinics is collected.

Early warning notification of infectious diseases

Early warning notification means that a message is sent immediately in individual cases or outbreaks of certain infectious disease in such a way that the sender is assured that the recipient has received the notification. Early warning notification comes in addition to the normal written notification. 

Early warning notification is required in the following situations: 

Isolated cases of certain infectious diseases

Doctors, nurses, midwives or dentist who suspect or detect an individual with selected group A diseases should immediately contact the local Municipal Medical Officer. These selected diseases are: anthrax, botulism, cholera, diphtheria, diarrhoea-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome, enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) infection, hemorrhagic fever, Legionnaires' disease, meningococcal disease, measles, plague, poliomyelitis, rabies, rubella, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), smallpox, trichinosis and typhus. 

The Municipal Medical Officer will immediately notify the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the County Physician. If the Municipal Medical Officer is unavailable, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health should be notified immediately via the 24 hour Infectious Disease Control telephone service (ph 21076348). Once this immediate report is made, the clinican will send the MSIS-notification in the usual way. 

Outbreaks of communicable diseases

Following detection or suspicion of outbreaks of infectious diseases outside a hospital setting, doctors are obliged to notify the local Municipal Medical Officer. If the suspicion is not quickly disproved, the Municipal Medical Officer will notify the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the County Physician. Suspected or confirmed outbreaks of infectious diseases in hospitals or other institutions should be notified immediately to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the County Physicians, as well as the regional health  center for hospital infection control. Municipal Medical Officers who receive information about suspected or confirmed infectious diseases that can be transmitted from food or water must notify the local Food Safety Authority. 

Other situations

Laboratories and physicians who in their professional practice find that a blood donor is infected should immediately notify the blood bank where the donor gave blood. The blood bank must notify the County Physician, the Norwegian Medicines Agency, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Directorate of Health and Social Affairs. 

Where suspected or confirmed cases may be caused by infection from medical devices, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, blood, blood products, tissues or organs, the doctor should notify the County Physician and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. 

If a doctor responsible for treatment of a patient transferred from another health care institution has identified an infectious disease such as MRSA, he/she must immediately notify the doctor at the other institution if this is necessary to prevent the spread of infectious disease. 

Doctors who suspect or detect cases of infectious disease that could be caused by the deliberate spread of infectious agents must notify the Municipal Medical Officer, the County Physician and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

Regulations

• Smittevernloven (Infectious Disease Control Act)  1995
• Forskrift om Meldingssystem for smittsomme sykdommer (MSIS-forskriften). (Regulations concerning the collection and processing of health data in the Norwegian System for Communicable Diseases and for notification of infectious diseases). 2003 

Statistics 

MSIS on web gives you statistics for infectious diseases from 1977 to today. You can also create your own tables:

• msis.no