S.I. No. 209/2026 - Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 2026

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 2026.

2. In these Regulations-

“Principal Regulations” means Infectious Diseases Regulations 1981 (

S.I. No. 390 of 1981

);

“2024 Regulations” means Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (

S.I. No. 119 of 2024

);

“2024 No. 2 Regulations” means Infectious Diseases (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2024 (

S.I. No. 528 of 2024

).

3. The Principal Regulations are amended by substituting for Article 8 (inserted by Regulation 3 of the 2024 Regulations) the following

“8. All the infectious diseases listed in the Schedule, except acute anterior poliomyelitis, cholera, diphtheria, hantavirus disease, influenza where it is influenza of a new or re-emergent subtype, mpox, paratyphoid, plague, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), smallpox, tuberculosis, typhoid, typhus and viral haemorrhagic fevers (Lassa, Marburg, Ebola, Crimean-Congo) shall be excluded from the application of

section 38

of the

Health Act 1947

.”.

4. Article 14(1) (as amended by Regulation 3 of the 2024 No. 2 Regulations) of the Principal Regulations is amended by substituting for paragraph (b) the following

“(b) further in the case of acute anterior poliomyelitis, anthrax, botulism, cholera, Covid-19 where it is Covid-19 of a new or re-emergent variant, diphtheria, haemophilus influenzae disease, hantavirus disease, influenza where it is influenza of a new or re-emergent subtype, legionellosis, measles, meningococcal disease, mpox, paratyphoid, plague, rabies, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), smallpox, tularemia, typhoid, typhus, verotoxigenic escherichia coli infection, viral haemorrhagic fevers (Lassa, Marburg, Ebola, Crimean-Congo), or yellow fever or where he or she is of the opinion that there is a serious outbreak of infectious disease in a locality, give immediate preliminary notification thereof to a medical officer of health.”.

5. Article 15(2) (as amended by Regulation 4 of the 2024 No. 2 Regulations) of the Principal Regulations is amended by substituting for paragraph (a) the following

“(2) (a) Where a medical practitioner who is a medical officer of an infectious disease hospital or infectious disease unit is required under sub-article (1) to notify a case of acute anterior poliomyelitis, anthrax, botulism, cholera, Covid-19 where it is Covid-19 of a new or re-emergent variant, diphtheria, haemophilus influenzae disease, hantavirus disease, influenza where it is influenza of a new or re-emergent subtype, legionellosis, measles, meningococcal disease, mpox, paratyphoid, plague, rabies, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), smallpox, tularemia, typhoid, typhus, verotoxigenic escherichia coli infection, viral haemorrhagic fevers (Lassa, Marburg, Ebola, Crimean-Congo) or yellow fever, or where he or she is of the opinion that there is a serious outbreak of infectious disease in a locality he or she shall give immediate preliminary notification thereof to a medical officer of health.”.

6. The Principal Regulations are amended by substituting for the Schedule (inserted by Regulation 5 of the 2024 No. 2 Regulations) the following

“Schedule

Diseases specified to be infectious diseases and their respective causative pathogens

Disease

Causative Pathogen

Acute anterior poliomyelitis

Polio virus

Ano-genital warts

Human papilloma virus

Anthrax

Bacillus anthracis

Bacillus cereus food-borne infection/intoxication

Bacillus cereus

Bacterial meningitis (not otherwise specified)

Botulism

Clostridium botulinum

Brucellosis

Brucella species

Campylobacter infection

Campylobacter species

Carbapenemase producing enterobacteriaceae, infection or colonisation

Enterobacteriaceae

Chancroid

Haemophilus ducreyi

Chickenpox - hospitalised cases

Varicella-zoster virus

Chikungunya disease

Chikungunya virus

Chlamydia trachomatis infection (genital)

Chlamydia trachomatis

Cholera

Vibrio cholerae

Clostridium difficile infection

Clostridium difficile

Clostridium perfringens (type A) food-borne disease

Clostridium perfringens

Covid-19

SARS-CoV-2

Creutzfeldt Jakob disease

variant Creutzfeldt Jakob disease

Cryptosporidiosis

Cryptosporidium parvum, hominis

Cytomegalovirus infection (congenital)

Cytomegalovirus

Dengue Fever

Dengue Virus

Diphtheria

Corynebacterium diphtheriae or ulcerans (toxin producing)

Echinococcosis

Echinococcus species

Enterococcal bacteraemia

Enterococcus species (blood)

Escherichia coli infection (invasive)

Escherichia coli (blood, CSF)

Giardiasis

Giardia lamblia

Gonorrhoea

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Granuloma inguinale

Klebsiella granulomatis

Haemophilus influenzae disease (invasive)

Haemophilus influenzae (blood, CSF or other normally sterile site)

Hantavirus disease

Hantavirus

Hepatitis A (acute) infection

Hepatitis A virus

Hepatitis B (acute and chronic) infection

Hepatitis B virus

Hepatitis C infection

Hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis E Infection

Hepatitis E virus

Herpes simplex (genital)

Herpes simplex virus

Herpes simplex (neonatal)

Herpes simplex virus

Human immunodeficiency virus infection

Human immunodeficiency virus

Human papilloma virus (HPV) infection (residual unlinked clinical specimens)

Human Papillomavirus (high risk genotypes)

Influenza

Influenza A and B virus

Klebsiella pneumoniae infection (invasive)

Klebsiella pneumoniae (blood or CSF)

Legionellosis

Legionella species

Leprosy

Mycobacterium leprae

Leptospirosis

Leptospira species

Listeriosis

Listeria monocytogenes

Lyme disease (neuroborreliosis)

Borrelia burgdorferi

Lymphogranuloma venereum

Chlamydia trachomatis

Malaria

Plasmodium falciparum, vivax, knowlesi, ovale, malariae

mcr-positive Enterobacteriaceae

Enterobacteriaceae

infection or colonisation

Measles

Measles virus

Meningococcal disease

Neisseria meningitidis

Mpox

Monkeypox virus of the Orthopoxvirus genus

Mumps

Mumps virus

Non-specific urethritis

Novel or Rare Antimicrobial-resistant Organism (NRAO)

Noroviral infection

Norovirus

Paratyphoid

Salmonella Paratyphi

Pertussis

Bordetella pertussis

Plague

Yersinia pestis

Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection (invasive)

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (blood or CSF)

Q Fever

Coxiella burnetii

Rabies

Rabies virus

Respiratory syncytial virus infection

Respiratory syncytial virus

Rotavirus infection

Rotavirus

Rubella

Rubella virus

Salmonellosis

Salmonella spp other than S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

SARS-associated coronavirus

Shigellosis

Shigella species

Smallpox

Variola virus

Staphylococcal food poisoning

Enterotoxigenic Staphylococcus aureus

Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia

Staphylococcus aureus (blood)

Streptococcus group A infection (invasive)

Streptococcus pyogenes (blood, CSF or other normally sterile site)

Streptococcus group B infection (invasive)

Streptococcus agalactiae (blood, CSF, or other normally sterile site)

Streptococcus pneumoniae infection (invasive)

Streptococcus pneumoniae (blood, CSF or other normally sterile site)

Syphilis

Treponema pallidum

Tetanus

Clostridium tetani

Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasma gondii

Trichinosis

Trichinella species

Trichomoniasis

Trichomonas vaginalis

Tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex

Tularemia

Francisella tularensis

Typhoid

Salmonella Typhi

Typhus

Rickettsia prowazekii

Verotoxigenic Escherichia coli infection

Verotoxin producing Escherichia coli

Viral encephalitis

Viral haemorrhagic fevers

Viral meningitis

West Nile fever

West Nile virus

Yellow fever

Yellow fever virus

Yersiniosis

Yersinia enterocolitica, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis

Zika virus infection

Zika virus”.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

14 May, 2026.

JENNIFER CARROLL MACNEILL,

Minister for Health.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulation and does not purport to be a legal interpretation)

These Regulations amend the Schedule to the Infectious Diseases Regulations 1981 (S.I. No. 390 of 1981) to include hantavirus disease amongst the list of diseases designated as an “infectious disease” for the purposes of the

Health Act 1947

. All diseases that are so designated are required to be notified by a medical practitioner who becomes aware or suspects an instance of such disease to a medical officer of health, and are subsequently relayed to the HSE’s Health Protection Surveillance Centre in accordance with those Regulations.

These Regulations also amend those Regulations to provide for the inclusion of Hantavirus disease amongst the list of infectious diseases that a person who is a probable source of infection with the disease may, as a necessary safeguard against the spread of the disease, be detained and isolated for, in accordance with the

Health Act 1947

. In addition, they provide for the preliminary notification (i.e. immediate notification by telephone) of Hantavirus.

Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of

19

th May,

2026.

I, JENNIFER CARROLL MACNEILL, Minister for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by

sections 29

and

31

of the

Health Act 1947

(No. 28 of 1947), hereby make the following regulations