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Communicable Disease Surveillance
Washington state is seeing an increase in cases of RSV (respiratory syncytial virus). RSV is a common respiratory virus that causes cold and COVID-like symptoms, including runny nose, coughing, sneezing, and fever. Most people recover from RSV in a week or two. However, it may cause serious symptoms in infants, young children, and older adults.
If you or your family have symptoms that include trouble breathing or dehydration, call your doctor or pediatrician or go to a hospital core care. You should avoid a trip to the emergency department unless you have serious symptoms.
RSV can spread through airborne droplets or from touching surfaces with the virus on them. To prevent spreading RSV, regularly cover your coughs and wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. If you believe you have RSV or cold-like symptoms, you should stay at home and avoid close contact with others. If you need to leave home while sick, please consider wearing a mast to prevent spreading RSV to others.
For more information about preventing the spread of flu, visit knockoutflu.org.
Washington State Department of Health (DOH) News Releases |
| DOH strongly urges individuals get vaccinated to prevent spread of flu (English) |
| El Departamento de Salud de Washington insta a las personas a vacunarse para evitar la propagación de la gripe (Spanish) |
| Celebrating safely this holiday season (English) |
| Celebraciones seguras para esta temporada de fiestas (Spanish) |
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Emily Mason
Public Health Nurse, CD Lead
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Community Health Services
Physical Address
145 Rhone Street
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 607
Friday Harbor, WA 98250
Phone: 360-378-4474Fax: 360-378-7036
We rely on healthcare providers, laboratories, and hospitals to report certain communicable diseases to us. Reporting communicable diseases helps protect our community and assists our efforts around disease prevention, surveillance, and outbreak response/investigation. Learn more about required notifiable conditions.
COVID-19 is a notifiable condition.
To report a positive over-the-counter COVID-19 test result, click here.
To learn what you should do if you test positive with an over-the-counter COVID-19 test, click here.
To access the San Juan County COVID-19 data dashboard, click here.
Monkeypox Virus (MPV)
For more information about MPV or for vaccine clinic appointments for high-risk individuals, please visit our MPV page here.
Vaccine for MPV is currently limited to: (1) those who have been directly exposed; (2) are close contacts of those who have been diagnosed; (3) are a probable case of MPV; and/or (4) certain high-risk individuals. Speak with a health care provider to find out if you are considered a high-risk individual and should receive the MPV vaccine.
Get answers to your questions about Monkeypox virus (MPV): Call 1-833-829-HELP
People across Washington can now call 1-833-829-HELP for the latest information on Monkeypox virus (MPV). This call center is an expansion of DOH’s efforts to provide information to Washingtonians. Through an ongoing partnership with Washington 211, call takers will answer questions about MPV risk factors, vaccine information, testing and treatment from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday, and 6:00 a.m.to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and observed state holidays. In addition to calling 1-833-829-HELP, callers can continue to dial 1-800-525-0127 and press # to be transferred to a Washington 211 specialist. Language assistance is available in 240 languages. Call takers will not be able to schedule vaccine appointments.
The best thing you can do to protect yourself against MPV is to know the risks and take precautions. Despite misinformation, we want to be clear that anyone who has close contact with a person with an infectious rash can get MPV; it is not exclusive to any community. MPV can also spread through touching objects, fabrics and surfaces that have been used by someone with MPV, and contact with respiratory droplets during prolonged face-to-face contact. If you have an unexplained rash, cover it, avoid skin-to-skin contact with others, and see a health care provider. They will determine what testing and treatment may be available.
If you’ve been exposed to someone with MPV, contact a health provider or call one of our public health nurses at 360-378-4474 to discuss whether you are eligible for vaccination. More information is available on the Washington State Department of Health MPV information page.
Additional resource: What You Need to Know About Monkeypox (MPV)
Tuberculosis (TB) Testing
We provide confidential tuberculosis testing and referrals to providers for follow-up care. Beginning on June 1, 2023 a fee of $10 will be charged for TB tests/reads - the total amount due at time of service will be based on the SJC HCS sliding fee scale. No one will be denied services because of inability to pay.