Reporting Unexplained Deaths 
and Unexplained Critical Illnesses

On this page:
What to report
How to report
Submitting clinical materials 
Who is required to report
More about infectious disease reporting

What to report

Unexplained deaths and unexplained critical illnesses (possibly due to infectious cause) in a previously healthy person must be reported to MDH within one working day.

• "Critical illness” is defined to mean “the condition of a person who is hospitalized in an intensive care unit or who is critically ill in the judgment of a licensed health care provider.”

How to report unexplained deaths and critical illness

• Phone
  Please call 651-201-5414 to report unexplained deaths and critical illness.
   
• Please provide as much of the following information as is known:
  • disease (whether a case, suspected case, carrier, or death)
  • date of first symptoms
  • primary signs and symptoms
  • patient name, birthdate, gender, ethnic and racial origin, residence address (including city, county, and zip code), telephone number, place of work/school/child care;
  • date of report
  • health care practitioner name, address, and telephone number
  • name of hospital (if any)
  • name of person reporting (if not health care practitioner)
  • diagnostic laboratory findings and dates of tests
  • name and locating information of contacts (if any)
  • vaccination history for the disease reported
  • pregnancy status and expected date of delivery, if the infection can be transmitted during pregnancy or delivery
  • other information pertinent to the case

Submitting clinical materials

For unexplained deaths and critical illness, submission of clinical materials (isolate, if available) to MDH is required upon request.

• Clinical Materials 
  Clinical materials must be submitted according to these guidelines.

Who is required to report

• Health care practitioners (health care facilities, medical laboratories, and in certain circumstances veterinarians and veterinary medical laboratories) are required to report disease to the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) under Minnesota state law.
  • Unless previously reported, every licensed health care provider who provides care to any patient who has, is suspected of having, or has died from a reportable disease is required to report.
• Any person in charge of any institution, school, child care facility, or camp is also required to report disease to MDH.
   
• Persons Required to Report Disease
  More information about who is required to report disease.

More about infectious disease reporting

• Infectious Disease Reporting
  Find out which infectious diseases must be reported by law in Minnesota, who is required to report diseases, how each disease can be reported, and download the appropriate forms.