Quarantine is voluntary or compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often
but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian word quarantena, meaning forty day period.
The
quarantining of people often raises questions of civil rights, especially in cases of long confinement or segregation from society, such as that of Mary Mallon (aka Typhoid Mary), a typhoid fever carrier.
Quarantine periods can be very short, such as in the case of a suspected anthrax attack, in which persons are allowed to leave as soon as they shed their potentially contaminated garments and undergo a decontamination shower. The purpose of such quarantine-for-decontamination is to prevent the spread of
contamination, and to contain the contamination such that others are not put at risk from a person fleeing a scene where contamination is suspect.
Under the Quarantine Act, all travellers must submit to screening and if they believe they might have come into contact with communicable disease or vectors, they must disclose their whereabouts to a Border Services Officer. If the officer has reasonable grounds that the traveller is or might have been infected with a communicable disease or refused to provider answers, a quarantine officer (QO) must be called and the person is to be isolated. If a person refused to be isolated, any peace officer may arrest without warrant.
A QO who has reasonable grounds to believe that the traveller has or might have a communicable disease or is infested with vectors, after the medical examination of a traveller, can order him/her into treatment or measures to prevent the person from spreading the disease. QO can detained any traveller who refused to comply with his/her order or undergo health assessments as required by law.
Under the Health of Animals Act and Plant Protection Act, inspectors can prohibit access to an infected area, dispose or treat any infected or suspected to be infected animals or plants. The Minister can order for compensation to be given if animals/plants were destroyed purusant to these acts.
Recently the havoc created due to the spread of swine flu in india,especially in major cities like pune has raised concerns regarding quarantining the city to prevent severe outbreak of the swineflu epidemic.The total number of swine flu cases has reached to 3000 and upto 67 people have died in india,including 24 deaths in pune.A 2 week holiday was made mandatory for all the colleges,schools in pune and all the malls and multiplexes were asked to close down in an attempt to quarantine the city.Quarantining the city has helped in containing the outbreak to a great extent and certainly it has been helpful in curbing the mass outbreak.