Utah communicable disease report, 2020

The Utah communicable disease report 2020 is a web-based report. You can use the tabs and dropdown menus at the top of the screen to navigate through the different chapters.

Acknowledgements

The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) recognizes the efforts of local health department (LHD) personnel throughout the state who play a critical role in data collection and case investigation; their work allows for accurate and timely reporting of communicable disease data.

DHHS also recognizes the efforts of other reporting partners, including laboratories, healthcare facilities, healthcare providers, and the public, in the provision of communicable disease data which have contributed to this report.

Reportable communicable disease data for Utah are published by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services Office of Communicable Diseases.

Please direct questions or comments to:

DHHS Office of Communicable Diseases
PO Box 142104
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114
Phone: (801) 538-6191
Email: epi@utah.gov
Website: www.health.utah.gov/epi

Preface

The Communicable disease annual report for Utah, 2020 contains data related to Utah’s reportable diseases and conditions reported in Utah for 2020. The data reported are collected from Utah’s local health departments (LHDs), laboratories, healthcare providers, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities. The Utah Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) tracks more than 75 communicable diseases in Utah annually. Each case of disease is investigated in collaboration with the LHDs.

The Highlights section presents noteworthy epidemiologic information from 2020 for selected diseases and additional information to aid in the interpretation of surveillance data. Incidence data (new cases of reportable conditions in 2020), historical 5-year averages, and the incidence rates are presented in [State Disease Activity] table. In addition, a summary of cases of reportable disease by LHD is presented in the [Jurisdiction Disease Activity] section, and historical case counts and rates are presented in Yearly Disease Comparison section. Cases are counted by the year the disease occurred as determined by the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) week assigned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Important note about influenza

Throughout this report, influenza data are presented in the year that the influenza season ended, and represent data for the CDC defined influenza season. Influenza season typically begins in October and surveillance extends through May of the following year. For example, data presented for the year 2020 is indicative of data collected from the 2019–2020 influenza season. Presenting data in this way provides accurate measures for annual influenza activity. Sporadic cases of influenza that occur outside of the traditional influenza season are assigned to the previous season (i.e., an influenza case reported in August of 2018 would be assigned to the 2016–2017 influenza season). This report reflects activity for the 2019–2020 influenza season. More information on influenza activity in Utah can be found here.

Background

A multidisciplinary approach to communicable disease control has been established in Utah and includes prompt reporting, data analysis, data interpretation, case investigation, identification of common risk factors, treatment, and implementation of disease prevention interventions. The successes of medicine and public health have dramatically reduced the risk of illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths due to infectious agents during the 20th century. However, emergence of new diseases and the rapid spread of diseases globally, made possible by advances in transportation, trade, food production, and other factors, highlight the continual threat to health from infectious diseases. Attention to these threats and cooperation among all healthcare providers, government agencies, and other entities that are partners in protecting the public’s health are crucial to maintain and improve the health of Utah’s citizens. ¹

The important role that disease surveillance plays in protecting the public’s health has been expressed by the CDC as follows:

“Case-reporting of reportable diseases at the local level protects the public’s health by ensuring the proper identification and follow-up of cases. Public health workers ensure that persons who are already ill receive appropriate treatment; trace contacts who need vaccines, treatment, quarantine, or education; investigate and halt outbreaks; eliminate environmental hazards; and close premises where spread may occur. Surveillance of notifiable conditions helps public health authorities monitor the effect of notifiable conditions, measure disease trends, assess the effectiveness of control and prevention measures, identify populations or geographic areas at high risk, allocate resources appropriately, formulate prevention strategies, and develop public health policies. Monitoring surveillance data enables public health authorities to detect sudden changes in disease occurrence and distribution, identify changes in agents and host factors, and detect changes in health-care practices.”²

Reportable communicable diseases in Utah, 2020

Reportable communicable diseases in Utah, 2020 ³

Acinetobacter species with resistance to carbapenems

Acute flaccid myelitis

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)

Adverse event resulting from smallpox vaccination

Anaplasmosis

Anthrax

Arbovirus infection, including Saint Louis encephalitis and West Nile virus

Chlamydia trachomatis infection

Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease and other transmissible human spongiform encephalopathies

Ehrlichiosis, human granulocytic, human monocytic, or unspecified

Encephalitis

Enterobacter species with resistance or intermediate resistance to carbapenems

Escherichia col* with resistance or intermediate resistance to carbapenems

Giardiasis

Gonorrhea

Haemophilus influenzae, invasive disease

Hansen’s disease (Leprosy)

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome

Hemolytic uremic syndrome, post-diarrheal

Hepatitis A

Hepatitis B, cases and carriers

Hepatitis C, acute and chronic

Hepatitis, other viral

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection

Influenza-associated hospitalization

Influenza-associated pediatric death

Klebsiella species with resistance or intermediate resistance to carbapenems

Meningitis (aseptic, bacterial, fungal, parasitic, protozoan, and viral)

Meningococcal disease

Mumps

Mycobacteria other than tuberculosis

Norovirus

Pertussis (whooping cough)

Plague

Poliomyelitis, paralytic

Poliovirus infection, nonparalytic

Pregnancy associated with hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, Listeria, Rubella, Syphilis, or Zika virus infection

Psittacosis

Q fever

Rabies, human and animal

Relapsing fever, tick-borne and louse-borne

Rubella

Rubella, congenital syndrome

Salmonellosis

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)

Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infection

Shigellosis

Smallpox

Spotted fever rickettsioses, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Staphylococcus aureus with resistance (VRSA)

Streptococcal disease, invasive, including:
Streptococcus pneumoniae and groups A, B, C, and G
streptococci isolated from a normally sterile site

Syphilis, all stages and congenital

Tetanus

Toxic-shock syndrome, staphylococcal or streptococcal

Trichinellosis

Tuberculosis

Tularemia

Typhoid, cases and carriers

Vibriosis

Viral hemorrhagic fevers, including Ebola, Lassa, Marburg, and Nipah virus-related illnesses

Yellow fever

Zika virus

The following are summaries for selected communicable diseases which are intended to highlight conditions that had notable incidence, outbreaks, or other factors.

Select disease highlight

COVID-19

COVID-19 is an acute respiratory disease which emerged globally in late 2019, early 2020. The virus is transmitted person-to-person by both symptomatic and asymptomatic persons who exhale droplets and particles that contain the SARS-COV-2 virus. COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Utah saw its first cases in March of 2020. As of December 31, 2020 there were 300,332 cases and 1,365 deaths in Utah. Due to under-reporting, early scarcity in testing availability, and asymptomatic people who were not tested, the true burden of COVID-19 cases and deaths is likely above these reported numbers. COVID-19 precautions like social distancing, isolation, quarantine, and changes in healthcare-seeking behaviors during the pandemic likely impacted the reporting of other communicable diseases in Utah. While this report provides a high-level summary of reported cases, more in-depth COVID-19 data from 2020 and beyond can be found on the Utah COVID-19 dashboard.

Salmonella

Between June and September 2020, the Utah Department of Health and Human Services investigated a large outbreak of Salmonella Newport related to onions. There were 115 cases in Utah and more than 1,000 cases nationally. Of the 115 Utah cases, 29 were hospitalized and there were no deaths. Recalls were issued for multiple types of onions and other products containing the contaminated onions. This was one of the largest outbreaks of Salmonella in Utah.

Influenza

Influenza surveillance for the 2020–2021 influenza season began on October 4th, 2020. This report contains information from October 4, 2020 through September 9, 2021 (MMWR Week 36). Every flu season, influenza results in the hospitalizationof hundreds to thousands of Utahns. The 2020–2021 influenza season was unique due to the COVID-19 precautions implemented during this time. As a result, Utah and the rest of the country experienced unprecedented low levels of influenza activity. The 5-year average Influenza-Associated Hospitalization (IAH) rate before the 2020–2021 season was 51.77 admissions per 100,000 people (1,606 admissions) through week 36. In 2020-2021, Utah recorded a rate of 0.62 admissions per 100,000, a total of 20 total cumulative hospitalizations for the year. The past five seasons typically peaked in influenza-like-illness (ILI) between December and March, with 3.17–7.24% outpatient visits due to ILI. The 2020–2021 season was highly irregular in that ILI decreased between these months, and increased between May and September with a maximum of 2.69% during week 36. It is worth noting that syndromic surveillance systems may have also been signaling increases in other respiratory illnesses with overlapping symptoms such as COVID-19 and RSV. Of the 85 influenza labs reported in Utah (the fewest number of labs recorded since 2005), 50.6% were influenza A. A total of 3 influenza A labs were subtyped; 2 were H1N1, and 1 was H3N2. Influenza A and B were uniformly distributed throughout the season, with a slight peak in labs overall during the week of September 29th.

Enteric (intestinal) diseases

Enteric diseases are those that cause gastrointestinal illness. The causative pathogens typically enter the body through the mouth through contaminated food or water, contact with animals or their environments, or contact with the feces of another infected human. For more information about enteric diseases, see the CDC website.