Disease information

Disease surveillance is at the heart of a public health system. It is used to monitor disease trends over time, to detect disease outbreaks, and to increase our knowledge of risk factors that contribute to disease development.

Under Texas law, health care providers, hospitals, laboratories, schools, and others are required to report cases of nearly 80 different diseases and health conditions to local and state health officials.

Texas Notifiable Conditions 2023

General Reporting form with Texas Reporting Form

The Garland Health Department Communicable Disease Surveillance program receives case reports and collects additional detailed information through case investigation. These reports help public health professionals understand the incidence of diseases in the community, and guide appropriate prevention strategies or protective measures to reduce the spread of disease in the community. 

Reporting Diseases – For Healthcare Providers and Others

You can report a disease in Garland, Rowlett, or Sachse by phone, fax or email.  Reports are responded to the same day.  

 

COVID-19 Information

Self-Testing at Home

A self-test produces fast results and can be taken anywhere. You can use self-tests if you have COVID-19 symptoms or have been exposed to someone sick with COVID-19, or even if you don’t have symptoms. Call your local pharmacy to ask about whether they have self-tests available.

Learn more about Self-Testing (CDC). Visit FDA’s website for a list of authorized tests. Some self-tests may have age limitations.

If you take a self-test and get a positive result, tell the people you might have seen recently and find recommendations for quarantine and isolation (CDC). Call your healthcare provider if you have questions or concerns about symptoms, or if you are at higher risk for developing severe illness.  You can report positive self-tests to Garland Public Health online. 

For updates about COVID-19 vaccine availability and administration, visit the COVID-19 Vaccine Information page. Are you experiencing potential COVID-19 symptoms? The CDC offers resources and guidance for what to do if you're sick, as well as updated quarantine and isolation guidelines.

Additional testing information is available on the COVID-19 Facts & Resources page.

The City of Garland Health Department (GHD) posts case count updates each Monday.

May 1, 2023

Total Cases - 74,899
30.4% of Garland population - 246,018

   110 (0.1%*) active cases

73,970 (98.8%*) recovered

819 deaths (1.1%*)
*percentage of total cases

See fatality demographic statistics below:

  Under 20 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80+ Totals

Male     2 7 12 22 21 15 79
Male - underlying
 conditions
1 3 15 22 64 101 94 112 412
Female   1 1 3 4 5 18 14 46
Female - underlying
 conditions
  3 8 6 29 65 86 85 282
Totals 1 7 26 38 109 193 219 226 819

Monkeypox

Garland Health Department, in collaboration with the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDSHS), Dallas County Health and Human Services (DCHHS), and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), has confirmed monkeypox in a Garland resident. The individual went to a Dallas hospital with a rash and was diagnosed through laboratory testing done at DCHHS.   

This individual reported a history of international travel. They also reported contact with an attendee of Daddyland Festival who later was diagnosed with monkeypox. There is a concern for local, community transmission for anyone who attended these events and participated in activities that pose a high risk for monkeypox transmission. 

Anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, can spread monkeypox through contact with body fluids, monkeypox sores or shared items (such as clothing and bedding) that have been contaminated with fluids or sores of a person with monkeypox. Monkeypox virus can also spread between people through respiratory droplets typically in a close setting, such as people living in the same household or in a health care setting. Before developing a rash, monkeypox symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes and general body aches. Common household disinfectants can kill the monkeypox virus.

CDC Resources:  www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/index.html

DSHS Resources:  https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/IDCU/disease/monkeypox/Monkeypox/


Wastewater Testing Dashboard

To monitor wastewater public health surveillance data that includes SARS-COV-2, Mpox, Influenza, RSV, Norovirus, and human metapneumovovirus (HMPV), see the WastewaterSCAN program dashboard: 

http://publichealth.verily.com/#Garland,%20TX

For the latest health information from Dallas County, the State of Texas and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, use the links below:

link to Texas Governor's website Opens in new windowlink to Dallas County website Opens in new windowlink to CDC websitelink to Texas Department of Health Services website Opens in new window