Reporting Unexplained Deaths
and Unexplained Critical Illnesses

On this page:
What to report
How to report
Submitting clinical materials
Who is required to report

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.
  

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.