September 12, 2024

Mpox Case Reporting Recommendations

Health departments should report probable or confirmed mpox cases to CDC within 24 hours.
Local health departments should check with state or territorial health authorities to confirm their case reporting process.
Enter case reports into CDC DCIPHER or through jurisdictional case surveillance systems configured for mpox reporting, then into DCIPHER.

Data collection

CDC encourages health departments to collect the data listed in the Ongoing U.S. Mpox Outbreak Short Case Report Form (sCRF) for patients who meet the probable or confirmed mpox case definition. Local health departments should check with state or territorial health authorities to confirm the desired case reporting process in their jurisdiction.

Case reporting to CDC can be completed using either of these two methods:

Enter the necessary sCRF data directly in the CDC DCIPHER platform.
Enter the necessary data directly into an existing jurisdictional case surveillance system configured for mpox reporting. Then upload the reporting data to the CDC DCIPHER platform using a CSV file format.

To ensure timely reporting, initial reports can be submitted to CDC with only the minimum required data elements:

Local Record ID
Case jurisdiction of residence

Jurisdictions can ensure timely reporting by submitting new case reports within 24 hours.

Note‎

CDC asks that these initial records be updated with additional data as soon as possible.

Jurisdictions using a local case surveillance system can refer to the sCRF data dictionary to ensure their system is configured to match CDC data reporting requirements.

The data dictionary includes the new sCRF field/variable names and maps the new variables to the corresponding variables used for the original case report form. To assist jurisdictions in submitting data to CDC using the DCIPHER bulk upload feature, the data dictionary contains instructions for submitting the data captured in repeating fields within the sCRF. The file also contains an empty worksheet containing a header row with all the sCRF variable names. Jurisdictions can use the worksheet to assist in preparing the CSV data file for bulk upload.

Although CDC is releasing a fillable PDF version of the sCRF, jurisdictions should use electronic methods such as direct entry, bulk upload (CSV file), or API to send CDC the data elements included in the case report form. This form is designed for use by local and field epidemiologists who have no access to DCIPHER. The data collected using the fillable PDF form must be either directly entered in DCIPHER or submitted as part of a bulk data upload into DCIPHER. CDC will not accept PDF forms submitted directly to CDC.

This form is designed for use by local and field epidemiologists who have no access to DCIPHER. The data collected using the fillable PDF form must be either directly entered in DCIPHER or submitted as part of a bulk data upload into DCIPHER. CDC will not accept PDF forms submitted directly to CDC.