§ 9.05 Procedures for Submitting Petitions; Responses to Petitions.

   (a)   Any person may petition the Board to consider the adoption of a rule. The petition must contain the following information:

      (1)   The rule to be considered, with the proposed language for adoption;

      (2)   A statement of the Board's authority to promulgate the rule and its purpose;

      (3)   Petitioner's argument(s) in support of adoption of the rule;

      (4)   The period of time the rule should be in effect;

      (5)   Responses to any questions posed on a form approved by the Secretary to the Board for such petitions;

      (6)   The name, address and telephone number of the petitioner or his or her authorized representative;

      (7)   The signature of petitioner or his or her representative if the petition is submitted on paper or by facsimile.

   (b)   Any change in the information provided pursuant to 24 RCNY Health Code § 9.05(a)(6) shall be communicated promptly in writing to the office of the Secretary to the Board.

   (c)   All petitions should be typewritten, if possible, but handwritten petitions shall be accepted, provided they are legible.

   (d)   All petitions shall be delivered or mailed to the office of the Secretary to the Board. Petitions may also be submitted by facsimile, electronic mail or online over the internet.

   (e)   Upon receipt of a petition submitted in the proper form, the Secretary to the Board shall stamp the petition with the date it was received and will assign the petition a number. The Secretary will forward the petition to the Board, the Commissioner and appropriate staff of the Department.

   (f)   Within sixty days from the date the petition is received by the Secretary, the Commissioner, as Chairperson of the Board, shall either deny such petition in a written statement containing the reasons for denial, or shall state in writing the intention to grant the petition and to initiate rulemaking on the subject matter by a specified date.

      (1)   In all cases where the Commissioner has granted a petition to initiate rulemaking, the actual petition shall be made part of the record before the Board at the time that the rulemaking is initiated. In proceeding with such rulemaking, neither the Department nor the Board shall be bound by the language proposed by petitioner, but may amend or modify such proposed language at the Department's or Board's discretion. Neither shall the Board be bound to enact the substance of a petition to initiate rulemaking which has been granted by the Commissioner.

      (2)   In cases where the Commissioner intends to deny a petition to initiate rulemaking, the petition, the proposed denial, and the reasons therefore, shall be expeditiously provided to the members of the Board. Any member of the Board may object to a denial of a petition and an objection made within ten (10) days of the Commissioner's notice to the Board of his or her intention to deny, shall cause the petition to be placed before the entire Board for consideration as to whether such petition should be granted or denied.

   (g)   The Commissioner's decision to grant, or deny a petition in the absence of the objection of any member of the Board, or a decision by the Board to grant or deny a petition, shall be a final decision which is not subject to judicial review pursuant to Section 1043(f) of the Charter.

   (h)   In the event the petition needs to be placed before the entire Board pursuant to subsection (f) above and the sixty (60) day time period specified to decide a petition is about to expire, the Commissioner may deny the petition, provided that the petition shall thereupon be automatically renewed, or, upon the consent of the petitioner, the Commissioner may extend the time for consideration beyond the sixty (60) day period specified by Section 1043(f) of the Charter.

§ 9.07 Public Notice.

   (a)   This article shall be made available to members of the public with the following information:

      (1)   The procedures for submitting petitions for rulemaking including the location at which any necessary forms may be obtained, and

      (2)   The name, business address, facsimile number, electronic mail address, online address and telephone number of the Secretary to the Board.

   (b)   The name, business address, facsimile number, electronic mail address, online address and telephone number of the Secretary to the Board, and the location at which any necessary form may be obtained shall be published in the City Record. Notice of any change in the above information shall be published as soon as practicable in the City Record. Such notice shall not constitute a rule as defined in the Section 1041(5) of the Charter.

Title II: Control of Disease

Article 11: Reportable Diseases and Conditions

§ 11.01 Definitions.

When used in this article:

   (a)   "Carrier" means an individual who, without showing any evidence of clinical disease, harbors and is capable of transmitting an infectious agent and may be a potential source of infection to others.

   (b)   "Case" means, depending on the context, (1) an individual who, based on clinical, laboratory and/or epidemiologic evidence or other recognized public health criteria, has a disease or condition of public health interest that is reportable to the Department pursuant to this article or any other applicable law or regulation, or (2) an instance of such a reportable disease or condition occurring in an individual.

   (c)   "Child" means a person under the age of 18 years.

   (d)   "Clinical laboratory" or "laboratory" means a facility, including a blood bank, regulated pursuant to Public Health Law, Title V, Article 5, holding a permit issued by the New York State Department of Health, and operating in the City or testing a specimen from a City resident.

   (e)   "Communicable disease" means an illness caused by an infectious agent or its toxins that occurs through the direct or indirect transmission of the infectious agent or its products from an infected individual or via an animal, vector or the inanimate environment to a susceptible animal or human host.

   (f)   "Condition of public health interest" or "condition" means a disease, illness, syndrome or injury, or other threat to health that is identifiable on an individual or community level and can reasonably be expected to lead to adverse health effects in the community.

   (g)   "Contact" means an individual who has been identified as having been exposed, or potentially exposed, to a contagious or possibly contagious disease through such close, prolonged or repeated association with another individual or animal that, in the opinion of the Department, there is a risk of such individual contracting the contagious disease. A contact can be a household or non-household contact.

   (h)   "Contagious disease" means a communicable disease that is transmissible from one individual to another individual by direct or indirect contact.

   (i)   "Directly observed therapy" means a course of treatment, or preventive treatment, for a contagious disease in which the prescribed medication is administered to the person or taken by the person under direct observation as specified by the Department.

   (j)   "Epidemiological and surveillance reports and records" shall mean the reports of diseases and conditions of public health interest required to be reported to the Department that are received by the Department, and records of the case and contact investigations conducted and maintained by the Department related to such reports. Epidemiological and surveillance reports and records shall not include information contained in the immunization registry nor in the children's blood lead registry created pursuant to 24 RCNY Health Code §§ 11.07 and 11.09, respectively.

   (k)   "Exclude" means to keep from attendance at a day care or other childcare setting, school, worksite, shelter, or other place as specified in this Code or as may be directed by the Department.

   (l)   "Food handler" or "food worker" means a person who works in any place where food or drink is prepared, manufactured, handled, bottled, packed, stored, offered for sale, sold or provided free of charge, whose duties or the circumstances under which the food handler works, in the opinion of the Department, involve a risk that the food handler or food worker may cause the spread of disease.

   (m)   "Household contact" means an individual who has been or may have been exposed to another individual or animal with a contagious disease, based on residence in the same household or residential premises, sufficient to, in the opinion of the Department, put such individual at risk for acquiring the contagious disease.

   (n)   "Individual" means a natural human being.

   (o)   "Isolate" or "isolation" means the physical separation of persons who have a contagious disease or are suspected of having a contagious disease from other persons who do not have such contagious disease.

   (p)   "Outbreak" means an increased incidence of a disease or condition of public health interest above the expected or baseline level for that disease or condition.

   (q)   "Quarantine" means the physical confinement, separation, detention, or restriction of activities, including entry or exit to or from premises or other places, of individuals who have been or are suspected of having been exposed to a contagious disease or possibly contagious disease, from other persons who have not been exposed to that contagious disease.

   (r)   "Suspect case" means an individual with clinical, laboratory or epidemiologic evidence suggesting the existence of a disease or condition that is reportable to the Department pursuant to this article or any other applicable law or regulation, but which has not yet been confirmed.

§ 11.03 Diseases and Conditions of Public Health Interest That Are Reportable .

   (a)   Cases and carriers affected with any of the following diseases and conditions of public health interest, and persons who at the time of their death were apparently so affected, shall be reported to the Department as specified in this article:

      Alpha-gal syndrome, laboratory-confirmed (reporting requirement applicable to laboratories only)

      Amebiasis

      Anaplasmosis (Human granulocytic anaplasmosis)

      Animal bite, or exposure to rabies

      Anthrax

      Arboviral infections, acute (including but not limited to the following viruses: chikungunya virus, Zika virus, dengue virus, Eastern equine encephalitis virus, Jamestown Canyon virus, Japanese encephalitis virus, La Crosse virus, Powassan virus, Rift Valley fever virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, Western or Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus, West Nile virus and yellow fever)

      Babesiosis

      Blood lead level of three and a half micrograms per deciliter or higher (see also 24 RCNY Health Code § 11.09(a))

      Botulism (including infant, foodborne and wound botulism)

      Brucellosis (undulant fever)

      Campylobacteriosis

      Carbapenem-resistant organisms, laboratory-confirmed (reporting requirement applicable to laboratories only)

      Chancroid

      Chlamydia trachomatis infections

      Cholera

      Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease

      Cryptosporidiosis

      Cyclosporiasis

      Diphtheria

      Drownings, defined as the process of experiencing respiratory impairment from submersion/immersion in liquid whether resulting in death or not

      Ehrlichiosis (Human monocytic ehrlichiosis)

      Encephalitis

      Escherichia coli 0157:H7 infections

      Falls from windows in multiple dwellings by children sixteen (16) years of age and under

      Food poisoning occurring in a group of two or more individuals, including clusters of diarrhea or other gastrointestinal symptoms; or sore throat which appear to be due to exposure to the same consumption of spoiled, contaminated or poisonous food, or to having eaten at a common restaurant or other setting where such food was served. Also includes one or more suspected cases of neurologic symptoms consistent with foodborne toxin-mediated, including but not limited to botulism, combroid or ciguatera fish poisoning, or neurotoxic or paralytic shellfish poisoning.

      Giardiasis

      Glanders

      Gonococcal infection (gonorrhea)

      Granuloma inguinale

      Hantavirus disease

      Hemolytic uremic syndrome

      Hemophilus influenzae (invasive disease)

      Hepatitis A; B; and C

      Herpes simplex virus, neonatal infections (in infants 60 days or younger)

      Hospital associated infections as defined in Title 10 New York Codes, Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) Section 2.2 (New York State Sanitary Code) or its successor law, rule or regulation

      Influenza, novel strain with pandemic potential

      Influenza, laboratory-confirmed (reporting requirement applicable to laboratories only)

      Influenza-related deaths of a child less than 18 years of age

      Legionellosis

      Leprosy

      Leptospirosis

      Listeriosis

      Lyme disease

      Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus

      Lymphogranuloma venereum

      Malaria

      Measles (rubeola)

      Melioidosis

      Meningitis, bacterial causes (specify type)

      Meningococcal, invasive disease

      Monkeypox

      Mumps

      Norovirus, laboratory-confirmed (reporting requirement applicable to laboratories only)

      Pertussis (Whooping cough)

      Plague

      Poisoning by drugs or other toxic agents, including but not limited to carbon monoxide poisoning and/or a carboxyhemoglobin level above 10%; and including confirmed or suspected pesticide poisoning as demonstrated by:

         (1)   Clinical symptoms and signs consistent with a diagnosis of pesticide poisoning; or

         (2)   Clinical laboratory findings of blood cholinesterase levels below the normal range; or

         (3)   Clinical laboratory findings or pesticide levels in human tissue above the normal range.

      Poliomyelitis

      Psittacosis

      Q fever

      Rabies

      Respiratory syncytial virus, laboratory-confirmed (reporting requirement applicable to laboratories only)

      Ricin poisoning

      Rickettsialpox

      Rocky Mountain spotted fever

      Rotavirus, laboratory-confirmed (reporting requirement applicable to laboratories only)

      Rubella (German measles)

      Rubella syndrome, congenital

      Salmonellosis

      Severe or novel coronavirus

      Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) (which includes but is not limited to E. coli O157:H7)

      Shigellosis

      Smallpox (variola)

      Staphylococcal enterotoxin B poisoning

      Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant, laboratory-confirmed (reporting requirement applicable to laboratories only)

      Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin intermediate and resistant (VISA and VRSA)

      Streptococcus, Group A (invasive infections)

      Streptococcus, Group B (invasive infections)

      Streptococcus pneumoniae invasive disease

      Syphilis, all stages, including congenital

      Tetanus

      Toxic shock syndrome

      Trachoma

      Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy

      Trichinosis

      Tuberculosis, as demonstrated by:

         (1)   Positive culture for Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex; or

         (2)   Positive DNA probe, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or other technique for identifying Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a clinical or pathology specimen; or

         (3)   Positive smear for acid-fast bacillus, with final culture results pending or not available, on either a microbacteriology or a pathology specimen; or

         (4)   Clinically suspected pulmonary or extrapulmonary (meningeal, bone, kidney, etc.) tuberculosis, such that the physician or other health care professional attending the patient has initiated or intends to isolate the patient or initiate treatment for tuberculosis, or to continue or resume treatment for previously incompletely treated disease, or, if the patient is not available, that the physician or other health care professional would initiate isolation or treatment if the patient were available; or

         (5)   Biopsy, pathology, or autopsy findings in lung, lymph nodes or other tissue specimens, consistent with active tuberculosis disease including, but not limited to presence of acid-fast bacilli, caseating and non-caseating granulomas, caseous matter, tubercles and fibro-caseous lesions; or

         (6)   Positive reaction to the tuberculin skin test administered using the Mantoux method, blood-based tests positive for tuberculosis infection, or other recognized diagnostic test positive for tuberculosis infection in a child less than five years of age, regardless of whether such child has had a BCG vaccination. This reporting requirement is applicable to healthcare providers only. The related reporting requirement for laboratories is set forth in paragraph (7) below.

         (7)   Blood-based test for tuberculosis infection, or other later developed diagnostic test for tuberculosis infection, for all persons regardless of age. This reporting requirement is applicable to laboratories only. The related reporting requirement for healthcare providers is set forth in paragraph (6) above.

      Tularemia

      Typhoid fever

      Vaccinia disease, defined as

         (1)   Persons with vaccinia infection due to contact transmission; and

         (2)   Persons with the following complications from smallpox vaccination: eczema vaccinatum, erythema multiforme major or Stevens-Johnson syndrome, fetal vaccinia, generalized vaccinia, inadvertent inoculation, myocarditis or pericarditis, ocular vaccinia, post-vaccinial encephalitis or encephalomyelitis, progressive vaccinia, pyogenic infection of the vaccination site, and any other serious adverse events (i.e., those resulting in hospitalization, permanent disability, life-threatening illness or death)

      Varicella, laboratory-confirmed (reporting requirement applicable to laboratories only)

      Vibrio species, non-cholera (including parahaemolyticus and vulnificus)

      Viral hemorrhagic fever

      Yersiniosis

   (b)   (1)   Suspected and confirmed cases or carriers of the following diseases or conditions of public health interest, and cases of persons who at the time of death were apparently so affected, shall be immediately reported to the Department by telephone and immediately in writing by submission of a report form via facsimile, mail or in an electronic transmission format acceptable to the Department, unless the Department determines that a written report is unnecessary.

         Animal bites, from vector species at higher risk for rabies (including raccoons, skunks, foxes and bats) or any other animal with illness suggestive of rabies

         Anthrax

         Acute arboviral infections, as defined in subdivision (a) of this section (other than dengue)

         Botulism

         Brucellosis

         Carbon monoxide poisoning

         Cholera

         Diphtheria

         Food poisoning, as defined in subdivision (a) of this section

         Glanders

         Hantavirus

         Hepatitis A in a food handler, or in an enrollee or attendee under the age of six or staff member who has contact with children under the age of six in a school, day care facility, camp or any other congregate setting with children under the age of six, or in a health care practitioner in a hospital or medical facility who provides oral care, or in an inmate of a correctional facility, or in a resident of a homeless facility or any other congregate residential setting

         Influenza, novel strain with pandemic potential

         Measles

         Melioidosis

         Meningococcal, invasive disease

         Monkeypox

         Plague

         Poliomyelitis

         Q fever

         Rabies

         Ricin

         Rubella (German measles)

         Severe or novel coronavirus

         Smallpox

         Staphylococcal enterotoxin B poisoning

         Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin intermediate and resistant (VISA and VRSA)

         Tularemia

         Vaccinia disease

         Viral hemorrhagic fever

         Any enteric disease (amebiasis, campylobacteriosis, cryptosporidiosis, E. coli 0157: H7 and other shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections, giardiasis, salmonellosis, shigellosis, typhoid fever or yersiniosis) occurring in a food handler, or in an enrollee or attendee under the age of six or staff member who has contact with children under the age of six in a school, day care facility, camp or any other congregate setting with children under six, or in a health care practitioner in a hospital or medical facility who provides oral care, or in an inmate of a correctional facility, or in a resident of a homeless facility or any other congregate residential setting.

      (2)   All other diseases or conditions of public health interest that are required to be reported in subdivision (a) shall be reported to the Department within 24 hours of a diagnosis confirmed by laboratory or clinical criteria, by telephone, or in writing by submission of the appropriate Departmental report form via facsimile, mail or in an electronic transmission format acceptable to and approved by the Department.

   (c)   (1)   An outbreak or suspected outbreak of any disease, condition of public health interest or syndrome of known or unknown etiology, that may be a danger to public health and occurs in three or more persons, or

      (2)   any unusual manifestation of a disease or condition of public health interest in an individual or

      (3)   an unusual disease defined as a newly apparent or emerging disease or a syndrome of uncertain etiology that could possibly be communicable, shall be reported to the Department immediately by telephone and in writing by submission of a report form via facsimile, mail or in an electronic transmission format acceptable to the Department within 24 hours after diagnosis unless the Department determines that a written report is unnecessary. An outbreak may be detected based on clinical, laboratory or epidemiologic evidence.

   (d)   Authority for syndromic surveillance. To ascertain the existence or monitor the progress of an outbreak, or the occurrence of unusual manifestations of disease, or of unusual diseases or conditions of public health interest, the Department may require reports by emergency departments, urgent care facilities, hospitals and clinics, and health information organizations which are comprised of such health care providers, as such terms are defined in Article 28 of the New York State Public Health Law or regulation promulgated thereunder, of all patient visits during each 24-hour period. Such reports shall be made electronically and in a form, manner and frequency as may be specified by the Department. Reports required by this subdivision may include age, gender, date and time of visit, ZIP code of residence, chief complaint, diagnosis or diagnosis code, disposition, radiographic results, laboratory results and a unique identification number adequate to access the patient's medical record if deemed necessary by the Department to investigate a suspected outbreak. In the event of a suspected or confirmed outbreak, and upon request by the Department, the identity of a patient shall be promptly reported to the Department.

   (e)   Information needed for investigations. Upon receipt of a report submitted pursuant to this section or any other provision of this article or other applicable law the Department may conduct such surveillance, epidemiologic and laboratory investigation activities as it shall deem necessary to verify the diagnosis, ascertain the source or cause of infection, injury or illness, identify additional cases, contacts, carriers or others at risk, and implement public health measures to control the disease or condition and prevent additional morbidity or mortality. Such investigations may include, but are not limited to, collecting or requiring collection of such clinical or environmental specimens for laboratory examination as the Department considers necessary, including the collection of specimens or isolates from clinical laboratories for testing by the Department or as designated by the Department. When deemed necessary for the protection of public health, in the course of conducting an investigation of a disease or condition made reportable to the Department by this article or other applicable law, the Department may require any person or any entity maintaining or managing health-related electronic records to provide reasonably necessary information including but not limited to information on household contact and non-household contact names and contact information, clinical signs and symptoms, treatment, including records of treatment, laboratory, radiological, or other diagnostic procedures as specified by the Commissioner or designee.

(Amended City Record 12/13/2016, eff. 1/12/2017; amended City Record 3/19/2018, eff. 4/18/2018; amended City Record 6/19/2019, eff. 7/19/2019; amended City Record 10/15/2019, eff. 11/14/2019; amended City Record 11/4/2022, eff. 12/4/2022; amended City Record 11/2/2023, eff. 12/2/2023)

§ 11.04 Report of First-Episode Psychosis.

   (a)   Required reports. A hospital must report to the Director of the Division of Mental Hygiene of the Department by telephone or in an electronic transmission format acceptable to the Department, the admission of any person at least 16 and younger than 31 years of age with a psychosis diagnosis as defined in paragraph (1) of this subdivision within 24 hours of such admission; except that such report shall not be required if such person was previously hospitalized with a psychosis diagnosis that was reported, pursuant to this section.

      (1)   Psychosis diagnosis shall mean:

         (A)   Schizophrenia (any type);

         (B)   Psychosis NOS (not otherwise specified);

         (C)   Schizophreniform Disorder;

         (D)   Delusional Disorder;

         (E)   Schizoaffective Disorder;

         (F)   Brief Psychotic Disorder;

         (G)   Shared Psychotic Disorder;

         (H)   Other Specified Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorder; or

         (I)   Unspecified Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorder.

      (2)   Reports must include patient's:

         (A)   Full Name;

         (B)   Gender;

         (C)   Date of birth;

         (D)   Address;

         (E)   Telephone;

         (F)   Hospital admission date;

         (G)   Diagnosis;

         (H)   Insurance type;

         (I)   Race;

         (J)   Ethnicity;

         (K)   Parent's or guardian's name if patient is a minor; and

         (L)   Parent's or guardian's contact information if patient is a minor.

   (b)   Reports to be confidential. Identifying information reported to the Department, pursuant to this section shall be confidential and shall not be subject to inspection by persons other than authorized personnel of the Division of Mental Hygiene. Other than to such authorized personnel, such information may not be disclosed without the consent of the person who is the subject of such report or someone authorized to act on such person's behalf, except, pursuant to a federal or state law that compels such disclosure.

(Amended City Record 9/20/2018, eff. 1/1/2019)