[Notification according to the law for protection against infections]

Since January 1st 2001, the Law for Protection Against Infections decrees the duty of notification along two tracks, on the one hand by notification of infectious diseases and on the other hand by reporting the pathogens. However, the names of pathogens change due to scientific progress. Furthermore, these names include in some cases not only harmful agents of infectious diseases but also inoffensive organisms, i. e. Giardia lamblia. There are also problems in the notification of other pathogens such as Brucella sp., Campylobacter sp., Chlamydia psittaci,Clostridium botulinum, Cryptosporidium parvum, Leptospira interrogans, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and similar agents, Norwalk-like viruses, Salmonella Paratyphi, Treponema pallidum, Trichinella spiralis and pathogenic serovars of Yersinia enterocolitica. Finally, the abandonment of notification for glanders, lymphogranuloma venereum, ulcus molle and variola appears to be risky, the reasons being partly unconvincing and contradictory.