During weekday working hours (excluding bank holidays), the Health Protection Team are available by phone on 01292 885858 Option 1 or email on HPTeam@aapct.scot.nhs.uk.
Out of hours and on bank holidays, the on-duty Public Health consultant can be contacted via switchboard.
The Health Protection Team has responsibility to protect the public from the spread of communicable diseases as well as other hazards, such as chemical incidents.
Under the Public Health etc. (Scotland) Act 2008, Registered Medical Practitioners, such as doctors and nurses, have a statutory duty to inform the Health Protection Team when a notifiable disease or organism is suspected. Do not wait until this diagnosis is confirmed. This would also include suspicion of exposure to a hazard which poses a significant risk to public health, such as a poison or toxic substance.
Health Protection Teams have a duty to work with partners to act on clinical and lab diagnoses of any notifiable disease to mitigate against further risk to public health. This may also include investigation of infection clusters or outbreaks.
Table 1 below is the list of statutory notifiable diseases in Scotland – please contact the Health Protection Team if any of these conditions are suspected.
Table 1. List of statutory notifiable diseases in Scotland.
| Anthrax | Pertussis |
| Botulism | Plague |
| Brucellosis | Poliomyelitis |
| Cholera | Rabies |
| Clinical syndrome due to E.coli O157 infection | Rubella |
| Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid 19)1 | Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) |
| Diphtheria | Smallpox |
| Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS) | Tetanus |
| Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) | Tuberculosis (respiratory or non-respiratory) |
| Measles | Tularemia |
| Meningococcal disease | Typhoid |
| Mpox | Viral haemorrhagic fevers |
| Mumps | West Nile fever |
| Necrotizing fasciitis | Yellow Fever |
| Paratyphoid | |
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1The Health Protection Team will be notified of positive Covid 19 results by the laboratory and also by care homes on suspicion, particularly if there is a potential outbreak. Clinicians do not need to inform the Health Protection Team of suspected Covid 19. However, please be aware that this guidance may change depending on national guidance. |
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The laboratory informs the Health Protection Team of a defined list of notifiable organisms which are detailed in table 2 below.
Table 2. List of statutory notifiable organisms in Scotland.
| Bacillus anthracis | Machupo virus |
| Bacillus cereus | Marburg virus |
| Bordetella pertussis | Measles virus |
| Borrelia burgdorferi | Mpox virus |
| Brucella genus | Mumps virus |
| Campylobacter genus | Mycobacterium bovis |
| Carbapenemase-producing Gram-negative organisms (excluding those with intrinsic carbapenem resistance from any human specimen) | Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex |
| Chlamydia psittaci | Neisseria meningitidis |
| Clostridium botulinum | Norovirus3 |
| Clostridium difficile | Omsk haemorrhagic fever virus |
| Clostridium perfringens | Plasmodium falciparum, vivax, ovale and malariae |
| Clostridium tetani | Polio virus |
| Corynebacterium diphtheriae (toxigenic strains) | Rabies virus |
| Corynebacterium ulcerans | Rickettsia prowazekii |
| Coxiella burnetii | Rift Valley fever virus |
| Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus | Rubella virus |
| Cryptosporidium | Sabia virus |
| Dengue virus | Salmonella (all human types) |
| Ebola virus | SARS-associated coronavirus |
| Echinococcus genus | Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)1 |
| Verocytotoxin-producing E.coli (VTEC) | Shigella genus |
| Francisella tularensis | Enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus |
| Giardia lamblia | Staphylococcus aureus (all blood isolates) |
| Guanarito virus | Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) |
| Haemophilus influenzae type b (from blood, cerebrospinal fluid or other normally sterile site) | Streptococcus pyogenes (from blood, cerebrospinal fluid or other normally sterile site) |
| Hantavirus | Streptococcus pneumoniae (from blood, cerebrospinal fluid or other normally sterile site) |
| Hepatitis A virus | Toxoplasma gondii |
| Hepatitis B virus | Trichinella genus |
| Hepatitis C virus | Varicella-zoster virus |
| Hepatitis E virus | Variola virus |
| Influenza virus (all types, including those caused by a new sub-type)2 | Vibrio cholerae |
| Junín virus | West Nile fever virus |
| Kyasanur Forest disease virus | Yellow Fever virus |
| Lassa virus | Yersinia enterocolitica |
| Legionella genus | Yersinia pestis |
| Leptospira genus | Yersinia pseudotuberculosis |
| Listeria monocytogenes | |
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1The Health Protection Team will be notified of positive Covid 19 results by the laboratory and also by care homes on suspicion, particularly if there is a potential outbreak. Clinicians do not need to inform the Health Protection Team of suspected Covid 19. However, please be aware that this guidance may change depending on national guidance. 2The Health Protection Team will be informed of positive influenza results by the laboratory or by specific settings when there is a suspected outbreak (e.g. care homes). Clinicians do not need to inform the Health Protection Team of suspected influenza cases unless concerned this is part of an outbreak. 3The Health Protection Team will be informed of positive norovirus results by the laboratory or by settings when there is a suspected outbreak (e.g. nurseries). Clinicians do not need to inform the Health Protection Team of suspected norovirus cases unless concerned this is part of an outbreak. |
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| Guideline reviewed | May 2026 |
| Page updated | August 2026 |