TB Andy Raises Isolation and Quarantine Issues


By: David Bibo

Secrecy News has a good post on the government’s authority to isolate and quarantine persons who may pose an infection threat to others, a la the latest story of the tuberculosis-infected globetrotting newlywed.

The Secrecy News piece highlights a key passage from a Congressional Research Service Report entitled “Federal and State Quarantine and Isolation Authority:”

[S]tate and local governments have the primary authority to control the spread of dangerous diseases within their jurisdictions, and the federal government has authority to quarantine and impose other health measures to prevent the spread of diseases from foreign countries and between states…

For more, including a few examples of how states localities have institutionalized such authorities, check out the following:
[CDC] Legal Authorities for Isolation and Quarantine

[Boston Public Health Commission] Regulation for the Isolation and Quarantine of Individuals with Infectious Disease Dangerous to the Public Health

[Chicago Department of Public Health] Quarantine/Isolation Regulations

[Seattle and King County Public Health] Isolation and Quarantine - Legal and Law Enforcement Toolkit

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