General Information

Intro & Definitions

Introduction

The Epidemiology Department at District 2 Public Health compiles data regularly for certain notifiable diseases and conditions across its thirteen counties in northeastern Georgia. This quarterly report aims to provide an overview of acute notifiable diseases occurring across District 2. These include:

  • General Notifiables - food-/waterborne illness, vaccine-preventable diseases, healthcare-associated infections, and invasive bacterial infections, and

  • STIs - chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis.

Datasets and analysis files will be made available upon request. Please contact us if you have any further inquiries. For more information on District 2 Public Health, please visit our website.

Notes and Definitions

Vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs) are infections in which spread or severity may be reduced through immunization of susceptible individuals. Only VPDs commonly seen in District 2, or VPDs of state interest, will be shown on this dashboard (such as pertussis/whooping cough and varicella/chickenpox).

Outbreaks are usually 2 or more cases associated by person, place, and time. For some diseases/conditions such as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, just 1 case may be considered an outbreak.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are also known as “sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)”. The STIs of focus in this report consist of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. New HIV infections are those that have occurred in the past 6 months.

Notifiable Disease Case Counts

Food- & Waterborne Cases

148

Acute Hepatitis Infection(s)

1

Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) and Invasive Bacterial Infections

68

Vaccine-Preventable Disease (VPD) Cases

16

Vectorborne Disease Cases

1

STI Cases

Chlamydia

98

Gonorrhea

17

Syphilis

31

New HIV

4

Notifiable Diseases

VPDs

Pertussis and Varicella

There were 16 cases of pertussis (whooping cough) and varicella (chickenpox) combined in District 2 for Quarter 1 (January to March), 2026. Across the district, 9 case(s) of pertussis and 7 case(s) of varicella had been seen. A county breakdown by disease is shown below as a table and to the right as a geographical map.

VPD cases by county and disease in District 2
Region Varicella Pertussis
Banks 1 0
Dawson 1 0
Forsyth 2 0
Franklin 0 2
Habersham 0 5
Hall 3 0
Hart 0 1
Lumpkin 0 0
Rabun 0 0
Stephens 0 1
Towns 0 0
Union 0 0
White 0 0
District 2 7 9

Vaccine Preventable Disease Map

Major Notifiable Diseases

Foodborne

Waterborne

Acute Hepatitis

Hepatitis can sometimes be caused by viruses. The most common types of viral hepatitis viruses include hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. Typical symptoms may include fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea/vomiting/diarrhea, abdominal pain, clay-colored stools, muscle pain, dark urine, and jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes).

Transmitted through contact with blood and/or other bodily fluids, hepatitis B and hepatitis C may lead to chronic infections, in which the illness never fully goes away. Most with hepatitis B and hepatitis C infections will not have symptoms until the infection progresses and causes liver complications. Chronic hepatitis may lead to liver disease and liver cancer. Both hepatitis A and hepatitis B can be prevented through vaccination. However, there is currently no vaccine available to prevent hepatitis C.

In District 2, there had been a total of 1 case(s) of acute Hepatitis A, 0 case(s) of acute Hepatitis B, and 0 case(s) of acute Hepatitis C identified for Quarter 1 (January to March), 2026.

Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) and Invasive Bacterial Infections

Vectorborne Disease

Outbreak Investigations

Outbreak Investigations

STIs/STDs

By Demographics

Sex and Gender

In the previous quarter, 81 (54%) STI cases were assigned Female at birth and 69 (46%) Male at birth. 1 (0.7%) of the 150 total STI cases recorded indicated they were transgender.

Summary Statistics for Age

For the quarter of Quarter 1 (January to March), 2026, the minimum age was 15, and the maximum was 69. The median age was 25, and the average age was 27.5.

To better protect patient privacy and preserve anonymity for minors, patients under the age of 18 will not be identified by gender, age group, nor county in the graphs and charts below but will still be counted in totals.

Graphs

Race/Ethnicity

Age Groups by County

Sexual Orientation/Practices

By Disease

Chlamydia

District chlamydia cases by county and age
County 18-24 25-39 40-64 65+ Cases
Banks 2 0 0 0 3
Dawson 2 1 0 0 3
Forsyth 13 7 3 0 23
Franklin 0 0 0 0 2
Habersham 6 3 0 0 10
Hall 17 13 2 0 34
Hart 2 2 0 0 5
Lumpkin 2 0 0 0 2
Rabun 1 0 0 0 1
Stephens 7 1 0 0 11
Towns 0 1 0 0 1
Union 1 0 0 0 1
White 0 2 0 0 2

By age group for chlamydia, there were 53 cases between the ages of 18-24, 30 cases between the ages of 25-39, 5 cases between the ages of 40-64, and 0 cases age 65 or older.

Gonorrhea

District gonorrhea cases by county and age
County 18-24 25-39 40-64 65+ Cases
Banks 0 0 0 0 0
Dawson 0 1 0 1 2
Forsyth 1 3 0 0 4
Franklin 0 0 0 0 0
Habersham 0 0 0 0 0
Hall 2 2 0 0 4
Hart 0 0 1 0 2
Lumpkin 0 0 0 0 0
Rabun 1 0 0 0 1
Stephens 1 0 0 0 1
Towns 0 1 0 0 1
Union 0 0 0 0 0
White 0 2 0 0 2

By age group for gonorrhea, there were 5 cases between the ages of 18-24, 9 cases between the ages of 25-39, 1 case between the ages of 40-64, and 1 case of age 65 or older.

Syphilis

District syphilis cases by county and age
County 18-24 25-39 40-64 65+ Cases
Banks 0 0 0 0 0
Dawson 0 0 0 0 0
Forsyth 2 2 1 0 5
Franklin 0 2 0 0 2
Habersham 0 1 0 0 1
Hall 1 6 6 0 13
Hart 0 0 0 0 0
Lumpkin 0 0 0 0 0
Rabun 0 1 0 0 1
Stephens 0 2 0 0 2
Towns 0 0 0 0 0
Union 0 4 2 0 6
White 0 0 1 0 1

By age group, there were 3 cases between the ages of 18-24, 18 cases between the ages of 25-39, 10 cases between the ages of 40-64, and 0 case(s) of age 65 or older. No cases of congenital syphilis were reported for the previous quarter.

Care Facility and Pregnancy

Care Type

Pregnancy Status

Risk Factors

Number of Partners

District STI cases by number of partners reported
Number of Partners Cases Percentage (%)
None 1 0.7
Single 41 27.3
Multiple 24 16.0
Unknown 84 56.0

Sex While Intoxicated

STI cases in District 2 and sex while intoxicated on alcohol and/or other drugs
Patient Had Sex While Intoxicated Cases Percentage (%)
No 28 18.7
Unknown 97 64.7
Yes 25 16.7

Other Risk Factors

Housing Status

Any Drug Use

Transactional Sex

STI cases in District 2 that engaged in transactional sex (sex in exchange for drugs, money, or other resources)
Patient Exchanged Sex for Drugs, Money, or Other Resources Cases Percentage (%)
No 53 35.3
Unknown 95 63.3
Yes 2 1.3

Condom Use

Monthly Adolescent STI/STD Risk Factors

Basic Profile

Age Breakdown

Race and Ethnicity

Risk Factors

Mental Health Conditions

Adolescent STI cases by history of mental health conditions
Patient History of Mental Health Conditions January February March
No 6 1 1
Unknown 2 8 13
Yes 0 1 0

Condom Use (or Lack Thereof)

Adolescent STI cases by condom use or lack thereof
Patient Indicated Sex Without Condom January February March
Unknown 2 8 11
Yes 6 2 3

Exchanged Sex for Drugs, Money, or Other Resources

Adolescent STI cases and whether they exchanged sex for resources (ex: drugs, financial assistance, etc.)
Patient Exchanged Sex for Drugs, Money, or Other Resources January February March
No 4 5 3
Unknown 4 5 11

Drug Use/Issues

Patient Drug Use

Adolescent STI cases and drug use
Drug Use IV Drug Use Needle Sharing Cases
No No No 6
No Unknown No 1
Unknown No No 6
Unknown Unknown Unknown 17
Yes No No 2