Justification for Change

Nonmaterial/non-substantive change to OMB Control Number 0920-0900

Contact Investigation Outcome Reporting Forms

Expiration date

06/30/2018

Program Contact

Amy McMillen

Office of Policy and Planning

National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

1600 Clifton Road, N.E., MS C12

Atlanta, Georgia 30333

Phone: (404) 639-1045

Email: [email protected]

Submission Date: 10/16/2015

Circumstances of Change Request for OMB 0920-0900

CDC requests approval for a nonmaterial/non-substantive change to Supplement OMB Control Number 0920-0900.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Division of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ) requests a nonmaterial/non-substantive change of the currently approved Information Collection Request: “Contact Investigation Outcome Reporting Forms.” In light of the recent MERS response and the identification of MERS cases abroad, CDC has noted that the General Contact Investigation Outcome Reporting Form (Air) should be modified to be more useful in the event of a novel communicable disease in a traveler. CDC is proposing minor additions to the General Contact Investigation Outcome Reporting Form (Air) and a small increase in the number of respondents that will have a minimal impact on the total burden requested under this information collection request.

This data collection supports the need for CDC staff to evaluate cases of communicable diseases of public health concern that are reported during travel and conduct investigative contact tracing for those travelers that may have been exposed. The proposed update to the General Contact Investigation Outcome Reporting Form (Air) facilitates the collection of data pertaining to these investigations.

The responsibility for contacting exposed passengers typically falls with state or local health departments or with maritime operators, if travel occurred on a ship. The extent of the contact investigation that determines which passengers are believed to have been exposed to a communicable disease is based on CDC investigative protocols. CDC is also responsible for providing state and local public health authorities with adequate contact information, such as phone numbers and address, to facilitate successful notification of the exposed passengers. The success of preventing the spread of a communicable disease is due in large part to the effectiveness of the CDC’s investigative protocols and the provision of contact information. CDC’s ability to control the spread of communicable disease through implementing effective investigative protocols is impaired without comprehensive feedback indicating the outcome of the notification and contact investigation from state and local health departments or from maritime conveyance operators.

Description of Changes

CDC is requesting an update to the following form under OMB Control No 0920-0900: General Contact Investigation Outcome Reporting Form (Air) (Attachment A), to improve collection of essential information regarding the risk exposure of all travelers on flights where a suspected infectious disease of public health concern has occurred. The changes are highlighted in Attachment A and include:

• CDC requests a change from “Gender” to “Sex” in noting whether the contact is Female or Male, to conform to OMB standards to requesting this piece of demographic data.

• CDC requests a change to include the question “When was person interviewed” with a multiple choice response of “During incubation period,” “After incubation period,” “At both times.” This will enable CDC to be aware of when individuals were contacted by the state and local health departments.

• In order to reflect the universe of potential responses to the question of immunity/vaccination, CDC requests addition of the option “No applicable vaccine” to the question of vaccination history of the disease in question.

• Similarly, to provide all possible options in the set of multiple choices regarding public health interventions (pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical), CDC proposes the inclusion of the option “no applicable prophylaxis” in the event that the disease or circumstances do not indicate or allow for prophylaxis for exposure mitigation.

• CDC asks for the inclusion of the word ‘Probable’ under the diagnosis sub-section of the general contact questionnaire, changing the following phrase: “Exposed to a probable or confirmed case besides the index case on the flight.”

Burden

The general contact investigation questionnaire changes are not expected to increase the time or burden on state health departments; questions added provide greater clarification but do not increase time of interview, as they are highly specific and simplify the investigation process by providing necessary and clear information to assess risk. CDC is requesting an increased number of respondents, from 12 to 50. This should provide sufficient burden for the cases when novel communicable diseases are identified in travelers, and it represents a very small increase in the total burden request under 0920-0900. The additional burden requested is 3 hours, for a total of 4 burden hours.

Type of Respondent	Form Name	Number of Respondents	Number of Responses per Respondent	Average Burden per Response (in hours)	Total Burden Hours
State/local health department staff	General Contact Investigation Outcome Reporting Form (Air)	50	1	5/60	4
Total

The table below reflects financial burden estimated as a result of this change request. To estimate annualized burden cost, we have taken the average wage or median income of Epidemiologists, which is $35.63 per hour (according to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics, http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes191041.htm). Assuming an hourly respondent labor wage of $36 (rounded up) for the epidemiologists’ time, the estimated annual cost to respondents would total $144.

Type of Respondent	Form	Total Burden Hours	Hourly Wage Rate	Total Respondent Costs
State/local health department staff	General Contact Investigation Outcome Reporting Form (Air)	4	$36	$144
Total		4		$144

Privacy Impact Assessment

This update focusing on the General Contact Investigation Outcome Reporting Form (Air) has no effect on the Privacy Impact Assessment provided in the supporting statement for the information collection approved under OMB 0920-0900 Reports to CDC concerning outcomes from contact investigations are voluntary.

The data will be used to ensure that individuals who may have been exposed to communicable illness during air or maritime travel are followed-up with by public health authorities. Data will become part of CDC Privacy Act System of Records Notice 09-20-0171, “Quarantine and Traveler-Related Activities, Including Records for Contact Tracing, Investigation, and Notification under 42 CFR Parts 70 and 71,” and may be disclosed to appropriate State or local public health departments and cooperating medical authorities to deal with conditions of public health significance; to private contractors assisting CDC in analyzing and reviewing records; to investigators under certain limited circumstances to conduct further investigations; to organizations to carry out audits and reviews on behalf of HHS; to the Department of Justice for litigation purposes; and to a congressional office assisting individuals in obtaining their records. An accounting of the disclosures that have been made by CDC will be made available to the subject individual upon request. Except for these and other permissible disclosures expressly authorized by the Privacy Act, no other disclosure may be made without the subject individual’s written consent.

Electronic media will be protected by adequate physical, administrative, and procedural safeguards to ensure the security of the data. Access will be restricted to agency employees with a bona fide “need to know” in order to carry out the duties of their positions or to accomplish the purposes for which the data were collected. When information is deleted, a special “certified” process will be used to completely overwrite tapes on the mainframe or overwriting (not merely deleting) microcomputer files. Source documents, printouts and thumb drives will be safeguarded by storing them in locked cabinets in locked offices when not in use.

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