Forms & Guidance

The data entry forms and guidance on this page are intended for use by staff at local, state, and territorial health departments who complete outbreak reports for submission to CDC.

For guidance regarding the reporting process within a particular jurisdiction, NORS users should contact their designated Reporting Site Administrators or Agency Administrators. Additional instructions for entering data are posted in Training Materials.

NORS Form

Forms for collecting data on all waterborne, foodborne, enteric, and certain fungal disease outbreaks.

• Complete NORS Form (CDC 52.14 Form) (read only) [24 pages]

Guidance Documents

• NORS Guidance Document [50 pages] (Updated January 2023) – Guidance for completing all sections of the NORS 52.14 reporting form and the corresponding sections of the NORS electronic outbreak report form
• Appendix A [2 pages]: Distinguishing Mode of Transmission for Certain Foodborne or Waterborne Outbreaks Involving Drinks, Ice, or Bottled Water
• Appendix B [8 pages]: Reporting Multistate Exposure and Residency Outbreaks
• Appendix C [1 page]: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Requests and Other Requests for NORS Data
• Appendix D [12 pages]: NORS/NEARS Guidance for Contributing Factors (CF) in Foodborne Outbreak Reports
• Appendix E [23 pages]: Available Picklist Values

Archived reporting forms

• Archived and historical versions of forms used to report waterborne disease outbreaks to CDC are available on the Healthy Water Waterborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance Reporting Forms Archive page.
• Archived NORS Form (CDC 52.13 Form) (read only)
• Archived NORS-Water Form (CDC 52.12 Form) (read only)