November 28, 2005 -- New Rules Would Quarantine Travelers Exposed to Contagious Illnesses

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) expects to publish proposed regulations later this month aimed at reducing the spread of communicable diseases by quarantining persons who were exposed to ill passengers on airplanes or ships. The new regulations would allow the CDC to see passenger manifests in order to identify persons who were exposed during travel to diseases such as cholera, diphtheria, infectious tuberculosis, plague, smallpox, yellow fever, or new strains of influenza. Captains of airplanes and ships would be required to report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the next port of call any passengers having temperatures of 100.4 or greater and symptoms such as rash, swollen lymph nodes, headaches, neck stiffness, cough, or changes in consciousness or cognitive function. The CDC would then contact local health officials, and fellow passengers who were exposed to the infected person could be quarantined for the normal incubation period for the suspected illness and offered vaccination or drugs. Public health officials warn that a worldwide outbreak of infectious disease, including possible new strains of influenza, could be triggered by infected persons traveling on ships or airplanes. A recent outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) was stopped in part by prompt quarantines of persons who had contact with infected individuals during travel.