As stipulated by the Infection Protection Act (IfSG), health services are legally obligated to report certain infectious diseases or pathogens to the responsible health authority or, in the case of certain infections, directly to the Robert Koch Institute. A distinction is made between the disease-reporting obligation of the diagnosing physician according to §6 IfSG, and the reporting obligation of the investigating laboratory following confirmation of specific pathogens according to §7 IfSG. These notifications are independent of each other.
The catalogue of reportable diseases is regulated in § 6 of the Infection Protection Act (IfSG), that of reportable pathogens in § 7 IfSG. Among the reportable pathogens are noro, adeno or influenza viruses, and reportable diseases include whooping cough, mumps, and rabies.
