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Quarantine and Isolation

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Introduction

The statutory authority for imposing quarantines and isolations in the United States originally began at the local level in colonial times. The federal statutes came into existence at approximately the same time (1796). Later the federal statute was replaced by maritime quarantine inspection system (JAMA, 286/21/2711. downloaded 06/15/09). A far cry from the operations in place for quarantine and isolation in modern society, the institutions of the past, run by the local governments, consisted of, what was known as pest houses. People with contagious diseases were isolated in these institutions to prevent the spread of such diseases as, cholera, smallpox, typhoid, or yellow fever. Pest houses functioned mainly in seaport areas to prevent disease from entering the large cities. Contagious-disease and tuberculosis hospitals were to become the next means of infection control, and are the predecessors of the modern quarantine and isolation practices used today.
Quarantine and Isolation are the most common public health strategies used to protect the general public by reducing and preventing the exposure, and spread of deadly, or infectious agents. Medical quarantine and isolation safeguards and prevention practices of today have evolved into strategic operations that are well planned, well designed, with a defined organizational structure that strives to meet the needs of public infection control. The federal, state and local governments each have their own authority, but sometimes these powers overlap and require cooperation, and coordination of efforts between them.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, “911”, and threats of bioterrorism, the recent SARS epidemic, and H1N1 pandemic, has bought about the inclusion of new practices and safeguards in quarantine and isolation.

Definition of Quarantine, Isolation, and Deadly Agents:
Isolation is

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