MSNBC- President Bush Signs Executive Order Allowing Quarantine For SARS Patients.

MSNBC | 4/04/03

[mewzilla]

If you go by those numbers, doesn't the flu have a higher mortality rate? Better safe than sorry I guess, but it seems to me if SARS were as infectious as the flu, there'd be a lot more of it.

[Chad Fairbanks]

You really are making a mountain out of a molehill, you know... I'm pretty certain that people coming from "SARS" countries are being screened pretty well... Granted, no system is perfect, but let's not overreact, ok? :0)

[Chuckster]

.....ACLU screaming bloody murder

[riri]

Because there's big money at stake

Not saying I agree or disagree. But there is HUGE money at stake if people stop shopping, working, going to school, flying etc.

It's got to be a tough call for the powers that be. Either way there will be economic impact but strict measures taken now will prevent HUGE loses later. Having said that, I predict the usual course of short sightedness and short term thinking-nothing of any consequence will be done until it's too late. The corporate world only thinks as far ahead as the next release of earnings numbers.

[TheBigB]

Maybe. People certainly can get the flu more than once in their lifetime. What gets me is that so many people are looking for a "cure" for this...hell, we can't even cure a cold! This virus is closely related to other common upper respiratory diseases like flu and colds. Like those, it's very treatable with supportive care. That's why the overwhelming number of patients recover with no problems. People are nervous, understandably, because it's new. But influenza still kills thousands of people worldwide even today. Here in the states we had "flu outbreaks" this past winter. Schools in Kentucky and Tennessee closed because so many students were ill. It wasn't such a big deal because we're so used to it.

[aristeides]

Here are the diseases listed at 65 Fed. Reg. 49906, 49909: Anthrax, chancroid, cholera, dengue, diphtheria, granuloma inguinale, infectious encephalitis, favus, gonorrhea, leprosy, lymphogranuloma venereum, meningococcus meningitis, plague, poliomyelitis, psittacosis, relapsing fever, ringworm of the scalp, scarlet fever, streptococcic sore throat, smallpox, syphilis, trachoma, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, typhus, and yellow fever.

[freeeee]

You really are making a mountain out of a molehill, you know

You're right. Being held in quarantine at gunpoint by your government is no big deal. Who cares if its only a couple hundred Americans (for now).

[Timesink]

In an executive order signed Friday, Bush added SARS to the list of diseases for which health authorities have authority to involuntarily quarantine Americans.

Gee, Reuters fraudlently spun the story. What a surprise. (The Mercury News article above relies on a Reuters article for its line spinning it as Bush making the law up out of whole cloth.)

Thanks for the post. It's nice to see the truth.

[thoughtomator]

How ironic that the veil should suddenly be in fashion.

[aristeides]

50 Fed. Reg. 1516, 1520 lists: cholera or suspected cholera, diphtheria, infectious tuberculosis, plague, suspected smallpox, yellow fever, or suspected viral hemorrhagic fevers (Lassa, Marburg, Ebola, Congo-Crimean, and others not yet isolated or named).

[LurkedLongEnough]

Yep. Check your state laws on quarantine though. Adding more from the CDC web site:

"States generally have authority to declare and enforce quarantine within their borders. This authority varies widely from state to state, depending on the laws of each state. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), through its Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, also is empowered to detain, medically examine, or conditionally release individuals suspected of carrying certain communicable diseases. This authority derives from section 361 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 264), as amended.

SARS and Isolation

SARS patients in the United States are being isolated until they are no longer infectious. This practice allows patients to receive appropriate care, and it contains the potential spread of the illness. Those who are more severely ill are being cared for in hospitals. Those whose illness is mild are being cared for at home. Individuals being cared for at home have been asked to avoid contact with other people and to remain at home until 10 days after their symptoms have resolved. (For more information on SARS infection control precautions, visit CDC's SARS Web site.)

SARS and Quarantine

To date, CDC has recommended isolation of individuals with SARS, but has not compelled quarantine or isolation of these individuals."

[Timesink]

Mmm ... scalp ringworm!

[TBall]

My only worry is that I have read that around 10% of the SARS patients get very ill and need hospitalization. If this thing spreads like wildfire, then is it not a likelyhood that the system will get overwhelmed and the mortality rate will move from 3% towards 10%.

[Domestic Church]

I'm wondering if this executive order allows for faster action in shutting down specific business aspects that might be a big part of the problem(like those airlines still bringing folks into this country from the various hotzones.)

There 's got to be a reason for this order. I don't think it is just a paper tiger.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Bump.

[Samurai_Jack]

See how quick the quarantine happens for a small pox outbreak. The tin foil hats will be spinning in their webblogs.

[Canticle_of_Deborah]

Ping!

[aristeides]

50 Fed. Reg. 1516, 1520 is about "Foreign Quarantine," i.e., who is to be admitted into this country from abroad.

[gathersnomoss]

How do you quarantine San Francisco and much of NYC?

[xrp]

Time to open the REX-84 camps?