Quarantines: Answers to your questions

Janet Loehrke, USA TODAY

The federal government, state governments and the CDC have authority to require quarantines.

U.S. authorities will monitor the health of anyone returning to the U.S. from Ebola-affected countries in West Africa.

Returning travelers will get a thermometer and be asked to report their temperature to health authorities once a day for 21 days, the incubation period for Ebola.

If someone doesn't report, public health staff will track them down. Who has the authority to order isolation or mandatory quarantine for people who are sick or at high risk of contracting Ebola?

Who is in charge of quarantines?

At airports and other ports of entry, federal authorities can quarantine people with no symptoms and isolate those who are sick. U.S. officials can enforce quarantine requirements states have put in place to ensure that people who may have been exposed to Ebola do not expose others to the virus.

State public health personnel can enforce isolation and quarantine within their borders. U.S. political and health officials are seeking to contain Ebola through state-ordered quarantines.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can issue a federal isolation or quarantine order if tougher protocols are needed. Health authorities can ask the police or other law enforcement officers to enforce a public health order. Breaking a federal quarantine order is punishable by fines and imprisonment.

What's involved in a quarantine?

A quarantine includes a range of disease control strategies, including short-term, voluntary home curfew.

Cancel plans where you will be out in public.

Suspend visiting public places. For example: going to the movies or events at school are out.

Air, rail, water, motor vehicle and pedestrian travel is restricted.

Those in quarantine are required to take their temperature twice daily and report the temperature to a health official monitoring their condition, once a day for 21 days.

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