03-8485. Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a list of information collection requests under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call the CDC Reports Clearance Officer at [phone]. Send written comments to CDC, Desk Officer, Human Resources and Housing Branch, New Executive Office Building, Room 10235, Washington, DC 20503. Written comments should be received within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project: National Disease Surveillance Program—II. Disease Summaries (0920-0004)—Revision—National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background

Surveillance of the incidence and distribution of disease has been an important function of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) since 1878. Through the years, PHS/CDC has formulated practical methods of disease control through field investigations. The CDC Surveillance Program is based on the premise that diseases cannot be diagnosed, prevented, or controlled until existing knowledge is expanded and new ideas developed and implemented. Over the years, the mandate of CDC has broadened to include preventive health activities and the surveillance systems maintained have expanded.

CDC and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) collect data on disease and preventable conditions in accordance with jointly approved plans. Changes in the surveillance program and in reporting methods are effected in the same manner. At the onset of this surveillance program in 1968, the CSTE and CDC decided on which diseases warranted surveillance. These diseases are reviewed and revised based on variations in the public's health. Surveillance forms are distributed to the State and local health departments who voluntarily submit these reports to CDC at variable frequencies, either weekly or monthly. CDC then calculates and publishes weekly statistics via the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), providing the states with timely aggregates of their submissions.

The following diseases/conditions are included in this program: influenza, respiratory and enterovirus, arboviral encephalitis, rabies, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Shigella, foodborne outbreaks, waterborne outbreaks, and enteric virus. These data are essential on the local, state, and Federal levels for measuring trends in diseases, evaluating the effectiveness of current prevention strategies, and determining the need for modifying current prevention measures.

This request is for extension of the data collection for three years. Because of the distinct nature of each of the diseases, the number of cases reported annually is different for each. The total estimated annualized burden is 12,335 hours.

Form	No. of respondents	No. of responses/respondent	Average burden/response (in hours)
Diarrheal Disease Surveillance:
Campylobactor (electronic)	53	52	3/60
Salmonella (electronic)	53	52	3/60
Shigella (electronic)	53	52	3/60
Foodborne Outbreak Form (electronic)	52	25	15/60
* * * Arboviral Surveillance (ArboNet)	54	717	5/60
Influenza:
Influenza virus (fax, Oct-May)	44	33	10/60
Influenza virus (fax, year round)	12	52	10/60
Influenza virus (electronic, Oct-May)	14	33	5/60
Influenza virus (electronic, year round)	10	52	5/60
Influenza Annual Survey	80	1	15/60
Influenza-like Illness (Oct-May)	620	33	15/60
Influenza-like Illness (year round)	130	52	15/60
Monthly Respiratory & Enterovirus Surveillance Report:
Excel format (electronic)	25	12	15/60
Access format (electronic)	2	12	15/60
National Respiratory & Enteric Virus Surveillance System (NREVSS)	89	52	10/60
Rabies (electronic)	40	12	8/60
Rabies (paper)	15	12	20/60
Waterborne Disease Outbreak Form	60	2	20/60
* * * Cholera and other Vibrio Illness	300	1	20/60
* * * CaliciNet	30	10	10/60

Dated: March 31, 2003.

Thomas Bartenfeld,

Acting Associate Director for Policy, Planning and Evaluation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.