Quarantine Essay

Quarantine, as we would define it today, began in the 14th century. Ships sailing to Venice would have to stay at port for forty days before they were allowed to disembark. In the United States before the late 19th century there were no established guidelines or rules to prevent the spreading of infectious diseases. In 1878 with the outbreak of yellow fever, Congress passed the first quarantine law which would pave the way for federal control over quarantine. The outbreak of cholera on passenger ships would take quarantine responsibilities out of the state control and into the hands of the federal government. The major legislation that was passed was the Public Health Service Act which would give the new federal organization the CDC, The Center …show more content…
This question is quite simple, we quarantine to separate and restrict the movement of people with infectious diseases in order to stop the spread to the non-infected population. Having the ability to quarantine people with communicable diseases helps limit the loss of life. The CDC uses many methods to quarantine, such as medical isolation in a hospital or clinic. CDC also can instruct patients to stay in their home during a quarantine sanction. CDC also have quarantine stations in U.S. ports to quarantine passengers who are entering the United States who may be infected with a communicable disease. Quarantine is important in order to keep a healthy and productive population, without quarantine people would become sick or die, which would stop the productivity and sustainability of a community. Sometimes quarantine is very necessary, but that doesn’t mean that people do not view forced quarantine as a civil rights violation. The same law that gives the CDC the right to quarantine United States citizens has come under fire because it highlights the conflict between a person’s civil rights and the rights of the government to keep people safe from …show more content…
Chris Christie, over the Ebola outbreak in 2014. She had just returned from West Africa after treated Ebola patients. Kaci Hichox shown no symptoms of Ebola, but she was still forced by Maine health officials under a court order to be placed in quarantine. In normal circumstances the United States government cannot hold a person against their will unless they are being arrested or convicted of a crime, but since communicable diseases can spread to the population, the state and federal government have the right to take away people civil liberties until they no longer pose a danger to other people. What has caused the major problems with quarantining people in the U.S., is there are no concrete rules and guidelines governing who, how and where people must be quarantined. Ms. Hichox had no symptoms of Ebola and was also tested and shown not to have Ebola, but she was still quarantined. The reasons that Gov. Chris Christie and health officials gave for her quarantine is under state law a person “reasonably believed to have a communicable disease” can be involuntary quarantined. Polls have shown that the public does favor mandatory quarantines, so whether you believe Kaci Hichox should had been forced into quarantine really depends on the importance you give to individual civil rights. We want our government officials to take steps to protect people