Infectious Diseases - As enacted, deletes all references to the world health organization; requires a pandemic to be declared by the federal centers for disease and prevention control, rather than the world health organization, with a subsequent declaration of a state of emergency by the governor for the governor to have exclusive jurisdiction to issue executive orders and directives related to the pandemic until the pandemic ceases to exist. - Amends TCA Title 7 and Title 68.

HB 1226 modifies Tennessee law to remove all references to the World Health Organization (WHO) in pandemic-related statutes. It requires the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), not the WHO, to declare a pandemic before the state governor can issue emergency orders. The bill mandates that the governor must declare a state of emergency after a CDC pandemic declaration, granting the governor exclusive authority to issue executive orders related to the pandemic until the pandemic ends. This change directly affects how Tennessee's state government responds to public health emergencies by shifting the trigger for emergency powers from international to federal health authorities.