Description

State Quarantine and Isolation Statutes

Updated April 2009

Public health quarantine and isolation are legal authorities that may be, but rarely are, implemented to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. Isolation may be used for ill people, to protect the public by preventing exposure to infected people. Quarantine may be used to restrict the movement of well people who may have been exposed to a communicable disease until it can be determined if they are ill, for example, people who have a communicable disease but do not know it, or may have the disease but do not show symptoms.

The federal government, through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has authority to monitor and respond to the spread of communicable diseases across national or state borders. By Executive Order of the president of the United States, federal isolation and quarantine are authorized for specific communicable diseases: cholera, diphtheria, infectious tuberculosis, plague, smallpox, yellow fever, viral hemorrhagic fevers, SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), and flu that can cause a pandemic. The president can revise this list by Executive Order. Further information on federal law quarantine authority can be found here. State and local governments have primary responsibility for controlling the spread of diseases within state borders. The table below summarizes state law authority for quarantine and isolation within state borders, including authority to initiate quarantine and isolation, limitations on state quarantine powers, and penalties for violations.