Monkeypox designated a notifiable disease

Monkeypox is to be listed as a notifiable disease in law from 8 June 2022. 

Legislation has been laid today (7 June 2022) which will make Monkeypox a notifiable infectious disease under the Health Protection (Notification) Regulations 2010 from 8 June 2022. 

This means all doctors in England are required to notify their local council or local Health Protection Team (HPT) if they suspect a patient has Monkeypox. Laboratories must also notify the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) if the Monkeypox virus is identified in a laboratory sample.

Wendi Shepherd, Monkeypox incident director at UKHSA, said: “Rapid diagnosis and reporting is the key to interrupting transmission and containing any further spread of Monkeypox. This new legislation will support us and our health partners to swiftly identify, treat and control the disease.

“It also supports us with the swift collection and analysis of data which enables us to detect possible outbreaks of the disease and trace close contacts rapidly, whilst offering vaccinations where appropriate to limit onward transmission.”

Background:

Full guidance about reporting notifiable diseases and causative organisms can be found on the gov.uk website. 

It is important anyone concerned they may have symptoms of Monkeypox feels able to access healthcare and clinical advice immediately. To enable this, The National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 2022 have been amended making the diagnosis and treatment of Monkeypox, and suspected Monkeypox, exempt from charges for all overseas visitors.

Operational note to journalists:

There will be no update on Monkeypox case numbers today. Going forward, UKHSA will be issuing updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The next update will be tomorrow, Wednesday 8 June.