The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has partly amended the regulation of the Law Concerning the Prevention of Infectious Diseases and Medical Care for Patients of Infections (the Infectious Diseases Control Law) on December 28, 2007.

Because of the necessity for early detection, measles and rubella was shifted from the target diseases to be reported from sentinel clinics and hospitals to the category V infectious diseases to be notified all cases under the National Epidemiological Surveillance of Infectious Diseases (NESID) (see Table).

All physicians must notify measles and rubella cases within 7 days (if possible, within 24 hours to start investigation of the index case of measles outbreak) after diagnosis to the nearby health center from January 1, 2008.