Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report: MMWR

Data Sources

Data on the reported occurrence of notifiable diseases are routinely published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) and compiled in final form in this summary from annual reports submitted by the state and territorial departments of health. Data from the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands have been divided into two reporting areas for 1980-Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and Pacific Trust Territory (excluding CNMI), which includes six districtsMarshall, Palau, Ponape, Kosrae, Truk, and Yap. However, totals for the United States do not include data listed for Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, CNMI, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.

CDC also maintains national surveillance programs for selected diseases, with the cooperation of state and local health departments, and publishes detailed epidemiologic analyses on a periodic basis. Data appearing in a surveillance report may not agree exactly with reports published in the MMWR because of differences in the timing of reports or because of refinements in case definition.

It should be noted that the MMWR and the national surveillance program are separate systems; data from each appear in this Annual Summary. These data should be interpreted with caution. Some diseases such as plague and rabies that cause severe clinical illness and are associated with serious consequences are probably reported quite accurately. However, diseases such as salmonellosis and mumps that are clinically mild and infrequently associated with serious consequences are less likely to be reported. Additionally, subclinical cases are seldom detected except in the course of special studies. The degree of completeness of reporting is also influenced by the diagnostic facilities available, the control measures in effect, and the interests and priorities of state and local officials responsible for disease control and surveillance. Finally, factors such as the introduction of new diagnostic tests (e.g., hepatitis B) and the discovery of new disease entities (e.g., infant botulism and legionellosis) may cause changes in disease reporting independent of the true incidence of disease. Despite these limitations the data in this report have proven to be useful in analyzing trends.

Mortality data, with the exception of statistics obtained from the 121 participating cities, are from the National Center for Health Statistics. Each year these data are also published in Vital Statistics of the United States, Vol. II.

Data on the notifiable diseases prior to 1960 were obtained from publications of the National Office of Vital Statistics.

The population data for 1980 used in computing rates are from the Bureau of the Census: Supplementary Reports, 1980 Census of Population, PC80-S1-1; Advance Reports, 1980 Census of Population and Housing, PHC80-V-34 (New York); Preliminary Reports, 1980 Census of Population and Housing, PHC80-P-54 (Guam); PHC80-P-53 (Puerto Rico); PHC80-P-55 (Virgin Islands); and press release CB81-97 (Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands). Population estimates for the years 1931-1969 were obtained from Series P-25, No. 802.

Population data from those states in which diseases were not notifiable or from which age-specific data were not available were excluded from rate calculation. Rates were calculated using resident population data except for chancroid, gonorrhea, granuloma inguinale, lymphogranuloma venereum, and syphilis, for which only civilian resident population data were utilized.

Data on reported venereal disease cases were prepared by the Venereal Disease Control Division, CDC.

In order not to delay the publication of this document, provisional data from California were included. For further modification of any of those data, contact the California Department of Health Services.

PART 1:
Summaries of
Notifiable Diseases
in the
United States

Disease

Sapt.

6
3,904

2
62

18,914

NOTIFIABLE DISEASES – Summary of reported cases by month, United States, 1980 Total Jan.

Feb. Mar. Apr.

May June July Aug. 5,271 309 298 397 468 442 450 571 388 403 1

1 8,028

344
307
264

277 318 496 897 1,418 1,364
89
4
4
6
8
5
6
10
13

3
18

3
1

1
6

5
68

4
2
7
5
5
4

8
183
13
19
13
11
23
16
21

19
190,894 20,092 23,267 27,034 29,567 28,644 21,553 5,960 1,635 1,552
10

6
1

1
3
1

1
1,004,029 83,179 75,303 71,232 78,753 80,271 78,310 90,046 |93,364 91,420

29,087 2,374 2,444 2,309 2,252 2,259 2,224 2,516 2,436 2,493
19,015 1,419 1,333 1,465 1,438 1,490 1,519

1,513 1,580 1,640 11,894 854

949

988 1,028 976 874 977 1,034 935 441' 29

31
33
32
37
54 68

57
223
16

11
18
14
15
15

23
85
5
3
5
6
5
7
11
12

11
2,062 130
134 139 151 217

219 214 152
13,506 515 981 2,128 2,986 3,386 1,860 712 252 106
2,840 265 280 362 280 249

162 143 148
2,820 260

277 360
279 247

162 140 148
20
5
3
2
1

3
8,576 1,095 1,168 1,451 1,070 1,085

280

215 220
1,730 86

120
77
90 108

244 251 209
18

2
9

1
1

1 8

1 124

4 14

93,164
2,666
1,736
1,135

1
85,656
2,658
1,943
1,024

171
244
92

83,331

2,285
1,695
1,028

23
17

4
157
139
226
224

Amebiasis
Anthrax
Aseptic meningitis
Botulism, total

Foodborne

Infant
Brucellosis (undulant fever)
Chickenpox
Cholera
Diphtheria
Gonorrhea
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis B
Hepatitis, unspecified
Legionellosis
Leprosy
Leptospirosis
Malaria
Measles (rubeola)
Meningococcal infections, total

Civilian

Military
Mumps
Pertussis (whooping cough)
Plague
Poliomyelitis, total

Paralytic
Psittacosis
Rabies, human
Rheumatic fever, acute
Rubella (German measles)
Rubella congenital syndrome
Salmonellosis
Shigellosis
Syphilis, primary & secondary
Tetanus
Trichinosis
Tularemia
Typhoid fever
Typhus fever

Flea-borne (endemic, murine)
Tick-borne (Rocky Mountain spotted)

15
92
33
33

6
153
187
287
286

1
549
140

9
162
162
206
205

1
398
157

1
1
1
8

352 117

42
15