Infectious diseases and prevention

• Infectious diseases are diseases that can spread from person to person.
• They are also called ‘communicable’ diseases.
• They can be caused by a specific infectious agent or its toxic products through transmission from an infected person, animal or other sources such as food or contaminated water).

Notifiable diseases

• Notifiable diseases are those with a significance for public health. An example is coronavirus (COVID-19).
• By law, notifiable diseases must be reported to the Director of Public Health.
• For more information, please call the Tasmanian Public Health Hotline on 1800 671 738.

Download guidelines for notifying diseases and food contaminants

View notifiable diseases by topic