Legislation Streamlines Process to Identify Communicable Diseases

SACRAMENTO - Governor Jerry Brown today signed Assembly Bill 186, which will speed up the process to list communicable diseases and conditions. The bill authored by Assemblymember Das Williams (D- Santa Barbara) gained bipartisan support in both the Senate and Assembly.

AB 186, allows the California Department of Public Health to modify the list of communicable diseases in a more timely and responsive fashion with consultation by the California Conference of Local Health Officers and the California Association of Public Health Laboratory Directors.

Currently, modifications to the communicable disease list can take one and one-half to two years, making it difficult to respond to emergency outbreaks.

"It's important for public health officials to have the information they need in a timely fashion to be able to respond and best prevent the potential spread of communicable diseases and save lives during an emergency," Assemblymember Das Williams said. "What currently could take as much at two years to update the list of reportable diseases, could take as little as two months under this law."

Contact: James Joyce III, 805.483.9808

Website for Assemblymember Das Williams: http://assembly.ca.gov/Williams