S.I. No. 53/2020 - Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 2020


Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 28th February, 2020.

The Minister for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 5 , 29 and 31 of the Health Act 1947 (No. 28 of 1947) hereby makes the following regulations:

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 2020.

2. In these Regulations, “Regulations of 2007” means the Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 2007 ( S.I. No. 559 of 2007 ).

3. The Infectious Diseases Regulations 1981 ( S.I. No. 390 of 1981 ) are amended -

(a) in Regulation 8 (amended by Regulation 4(3) of the Regulations of 2007) by the insertion before “diphtheria” of “Covid-19,”,

(b) in Regulation 14(1)(b) (amended by Regulation 4(6) of the Regulations of 2007) by the insertion before “diphtheria” of “Covid-19,”,

(c) in Regulation 15(2)(a) (amended by Regulation 4(7) of the Regulations of 2007) by the insertion before “diphtheria” of “Covid-19,”, and

(d) by the substitution of the following Schedule for the Schedule (amended by Regulation 2(b) of the Infectious Diseases (Amendment) Regulations 2018 ( S.I. No. 567 of 2018 )) to those Regulations:

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)

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

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 infection or colonisation

Enterobacteriaceae

Measles

Measles virus

Meningococcal disease

Neisseria meningitidis

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)

Streptoccus 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”.

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GIVEN under the Official Seal of the

Minister for Health,

20 February, 2020.

SIMON HARRIS,

Minister for Health.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

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

These Regulations (Regulation 3(d)) amend the Schedule to the Infectious Diseases Regulations 1981 ( S.I. No. 390 of 1981 ) to include Covid-19 amongst the list of diseases designated as an ‘infectious disease’ for the purposes of the Health Act 1947 , in accordance with Regulation 6 of those Regulations – 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 Regulation 14 of the 1981 Regulations (as amended).

These Regulations (Regulation 3(a)) also amend Regulation 8 of the Infectious Diseases Regulations 1981 to provide for the inclusion of Covid-19 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 .

These Regulations (Regulations 3(b) and (c) also provide for the preliminary notification (i.e. immediate notification by telephone) of Covid-19.