1. (1) The local health officer or the Commissioner or a designated representative of the Commissioner, upon receiving a report of a reportable disease or of a suspected epidemic of disease or of a suspected case of a disease of public health significance or event, shall:

   1. (a) Confer with the physician, laboratory, hospital, or person making the report;
   2. (b) Collect such specimens for laboratory examination as may be necessary to confirm the diagnosis of the disease and/or to find the source of the infection or the epidemic;
   3. (c) Obtain all names and information necessary to identify and contact all persons potentially exposed to the source of the disease outbreak as needed to protect the public health;
   4. (d) Make a complete epidemiological investigation to include (but not limited to): review of appropriate medical and laboratory records of affected persons and controls, interviews of affected persons and controls, and recording of the findings on a communicable disease field record; and
   5. (e) Establish appropriate control measures which may include examination, treatment, isolation, quarantine, exclusion, disinfection, immunization, disease surveillance, closure of establishment, education, and other measures considered appropriate by medical experts for the protection of the public’s health.
2. (2) Medical and relevant non-medical records and information shall be made available when requested, for inspection and copying of, by a duly authorized representative of the Department while in the course of investigating a disease under these regulations. The original records shall not be removed from the facility and any information obtained shall be treated as confidential and sensitive.
3. (3) For the purpose of this section, appropriate medical experts shall mean the latest edition of the Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases of the American Academy of Pediatrics or the Control of Communicable Diseases Manual by the American Public Health Association (latest edition). Consideration will also be given to recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) and other current recommendations issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Additionally, information provided directly from the Department by the Division of Communicable Disease Control or the Division of Tuberculosis Control shall be considered appropriate control measures for the protection of public health and may be used instead of the other cited references.
4. (4) Access to information necessary for the effective control of diseases: In the event an entity or person does not cooperate with the local health officer, Commissioner, or his designated representative by providing records or other information necessary to carry out the purposes of these Rules and/or 1200-14-04 et seq., the local health officer, the Commissioner or his designated representative may petition the General Sessions Court where the person or entity resides, is found, or is located to obtain a court order requiring disclosure of such information. Such petition shall set forth the specific underlying facts and/or circumstances that demonstrate the information sought is necessary to carry out the purposes of these Rules and/or 1200-14-04-.01 et seq.

Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-202, 68-1-103, 68-1-104, 68-1-201, 68-5-101, and 68-5-104. Administrative History: Original rule certified June 7, 1974. Repeal and new rule filed March 31, 1977; effective May 2, 1977. Amendment filed April 20, 1987; effective June 4, 1987. Amendment filed March 30, 2004; effective July 29, 2004. Emergency rule filed October 8, 2009; effective through April 6, 2010. Amendment filed December 29, 2009; effective March 29, 2010.