1. A. The director of every laboratory and the director of an applicable healthcare facility whether public, private, hospital or other, within or out of the state shall report to the state health officer the results of all tests that are in any way clinically relevant, suggestive or indicative of an individual having active disease, past or present exposure to, past or present contact with and/or past or present association with any of the disease/conditions listed in LAC 51 (Public HealthSanitary Code), Part II, Chapter 1, §105. The results of the tests to be reported to the state health officer do not have to be conducted for diagnostic reasons, nor do the results have to be diagnostic or confirmatory. The report shall be received in a timely manner consistent with the requirements of the diseases/conditions by class for the diseases/conditions described in §105 of this Chapter and shall state the name, date of birth, sex, race, usual residence, pregnancy status of the individual (if the pregnancy status is known and if it is clinically relevant to the disease or condition being reported), specimen identification code/ID and test results of the tested individual as well as the name of the physician or person submitting the specimen. Contact information for the laboratory or an applicable healthcare facility performing the test(s) shall be provided. Laboratories or an applicable healthcare facility shall not defer their public health reporting responsibilities to any other authorities within the institutions they serve. In addition, laboratories or an applicable healthcare facility performing tests on specimens received from other laboratories or an applicable healthcare facility shall report to the state health officer all results as prescribed above plus the contact information for the facility/laboratory or an applicable healthcare facility where the specimen originated. Moreover, no considerations, evaluations or concerns, regarding any test technology or test result by institutions and/or organizations whether federal, state or otherwise (e.g., FDA, CMS-CLIA, etc.) which may be overseeing, approving, evaluating or licensing laboratory testing, shall represent an a priori rationale for withholding laboratory reports from the state health officer.

2. B. All laboratory facilities shall, in addition to reporting tests indicative of conditions found in §105, report positive or suggestive results for additional conditions of public health interest. The following findings shall be reported as detected by laboratory facilities:

   1. 1. adenoviruses;
   2. 2. coronaviruses;
   3. 3. enteroviruses;
   4. 4. hepatitis B (carriage, other than in pregnancy);
   5. 5. hepatitis C (past or present infection), including genotype where available;
   6. 6. human metapneumovirus;
   7. 7. parainfluenza viruses;
   8. 8. respiratory syncytial virus; and
   9. 9. rhinoviruses.

3. C. A reference culture or culture-independent diagnostic test (CIDT) specimen is required to be sent to the Office of Public Health laboratory, or a specialized laboratory as indicated below, for the following microorganisms within five business days of the final identification of the microorganism:

   1. 1. Acinetobacter spp., pan-resistant; consult with the OPH’s Infectious Disease Epidemiology for submission to the CDC’s Antibiotic Resistance Laboratory Network (ARLN);
   2. 2. Bacillus anthracis (confirmed or suspected);
   3. 3. Bordetella pertussis;
   4. 4. Brucella spp.
   5. 5. Burkholderia mallei;
   6. 6. Burkholderia pseudomallei;
   7. 7. Campylobacter spp.;
   8. 8. Candida auris submitted to the CDC’s ARLN; consult with the OPH’s Infectious Disease Epidemiology for common misidentifications of C. auris (e.g., C. haemulonii, C. duobushaemulonii, C. famata, C. sake, C. lusitaniae, C. parapsilosis, C. catenulata, C. guilliermondii, and Rhodotorula glutinis);
   9. 9. Corynebacterium diphtheriae;
   10. 10. E. coli O157:H7 or E. coli Shiga toxin producing;
   11. 11. Enterobacteriaceae, carbapenem-resistant (excluding Klebsiella pneumoniae, K. oxytoca, E. coli, and Enterobacter spp.); consult with OPH’s Infectious Disease Epidemiology for submission to the CDC ARLN;
   12. 12. Francisella spp.;
   13. 13. Klebsiella pneumoniae, K. oxytoca. E. coli, and Enterobacter spp., carbapenum-resistant;
   14. 14. Listeria spp.;
   15. 15. Mycobacterium tuberculosis, bovis or africanum;
   16. 16. Plesiomonas spp;
   17. 17. Pseudomonas aeruginosa, carbapenum-resistant;
   18. 18. Salmonella spp.;
   19. 19. Shigella spp.;
   20. 20. Vibrio spp.;
   21. 21. Yersinia enterocolitica; and
   22. 22. Yersinia pestis.

4. D. A reference culture or culture-independent diagnostic test (CIDT) specimen is required to be sent to the Office of Public Health laboratory for the following microorganisms if the original culture was from a sterile site (e.g., blood, spinal fluid, other internal fluid, tissue, etc.). Such reference culture shall be sent to the Office of Public Health laboratory within five business days of the final identification of the microorganism:

   1. 1. Haemophilus influenzae type b or untyped;
   2. 2. Neisseria meningitidis; and
   3. 3. Streptococcus pneumoniae.
5. E. Laboratory reports shall not be construed by the Office of Public Health as diagnosis. In the case of private patients, follow-up of laboratory reports shall be through the physician(s) submitting the specimen(s).

6. F. Electronic reporting by a laboratory/facility shall include any results, negative or positive, for all components of testing indicative of the following conditions:

   1. 1. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)/Infections with SARS-CoV-2;
   2. 2. hepatitis C virus;
   3. 3. human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), including nucleotide sequences; and
   4. 4. syphilis.
7. G. Laboratories and applicable healthcare facilities are encouraged to report results electronically using Health Level Seven (HL7)-compliant message structure and appropriate standard Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes (LOINC) terminology designating the test(s) performed.

Authority Note

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with the provisions of R.S. 40:4(A)(2) and R.S. 40:5(2)(10)(11).

Historical Note

HISTORICAL NOTE: Promulgated by the Department of Health and Hospitals, Office of Public Health, LR 28:1214 (June 2002), amended LR 32:1052 (June 2006), LR 39:1054 (April 2013), LR 41:2655 (December 2015), amended by Department of Health, Office of Public Health, LR 45:669 (May 2019), LR 47:52 (January 2021).