Neonatal Herpes has become a notifiable disease in Ireland.
It follows the death of a baby from the common cold sore virus in December 2015.
Eibhlin Wills was just 12 day old when she died from the disease.
Her parents John and Louise have since campaigned for the virus to be monitored and reported to authorities.
The Health Minister Simon Harris signed the regulations to make it a notifiable disease, in their presence today.
Minister Harris says “I hope that the inclusion of neonatal Herpes simplex among the diseases that are notifiable will help, in some small way, to increase public awareness of this disease and the danger that it can represent to newborns.
