LegalizeS.I. No. 209/2026 - Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 2026
This is the act as published. Later amendments are not folded into the text below: each one is a separate act in this repository and an entry in this law's history.
Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in
“Iris Oifigiúil” of 19th 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:
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.
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