Report an Illness

Many things can cause illness when people eat food or drink water. Columbus Public Health reviews reports of illness from the community and food business owners.

Foodborne Illness Reporting

•  If you think you have eaten or drank something that made you ill, please fill out this survey here.
• A Columbus Public Health staff member will review the information and reach out if additional information or samples are needed.

For General Food Business Complaints

• Submit Online – www.columbus.gov/311 
• Email – 311@Columbus.gov
• Call – (614) 645-3111

Visit the Food Protection Program for more information. 

Infectious Disease Reporting for Health Care Providers

The Infectious Disease Reporting System is the combined reporting system for health care in Columbus and Franklin County, making the reporting, tracking and investigation of infectious disease cases easier and more convenient.

Visit IDRS for more information.

Do you have questions or need guidance about your facilities on a variety of infectious diseases, as well as information for disease prevention and control?

Contact us at (614) 645-1474 (option 2) or via email at IDI@Columbus.gov.

What is a communicable disease?

• Any disease that spreads from one person to another.

What are some ways that communicable diseases spread?

• Directly through physical contact with an infected person, such as through touch (staphylococcus), sexual intercourse (gonorrhea, HIV), fecal/oral transmission (hepatitis A), or large respiratory droplets from coughs and sneezes (influenza, TB).
• Contact with a contaminated surface or object (Norwalk virus), food (salmonella, E. coli), blood (HIV, hepatitis B) or water (cholera).
• Bites from insects or animals capable of transmitting the disease (mosquito- malaria and yellow fever; flea- plague).
• Breathing small respiratory droplets that travel through the air, such as tuberculosis or measles.

Specific diseases and disease outbreaks are reportable. Ohio Administrative Code 3701-3 requires that these diseases and outbreaks be reported to the local health department. Personal health information is confidential. Our team closely monitors these diseases, allowing us to:

• Identify patterns of spread or emerging trends and outbreaks.
• Prevent further spread with public health interventions.
• Share helpful information about diseases with our community.