Taylor Corey
Christi Hooper
Medical Therapeutics
26 January 2015
Due to the recent Ebola outbreaks, there have been many controversial cases on whether American hospitals have the right to quarantine or isolate individuals who are infected with the disease or those who have been subjected to the disease. Quarantine is keeping someone who has been exposed to a deadly illness, but not sick from the disease kept separated from those who are not sick. Isolation is keeping someone who is sick with a deadly disease completely isolated and away from those who are not sick. In Tennessee, code 68-1-201-Power to Quarantine, states that the commissioner has the power to declare whether or not to quarantine someone if they feel it could jeopardize the health of the public. Tennessee can also isolate someone who is sick with an illness to make sure that it does not spread past that individual. This is an effective law because it keeps the public free from epidemic diseases, it prevents the spread of disease from those who are infected, and it allows doctors to give these patients the proper care that they need while doctors can watch and learn more about diseases for future care. Keeping a disease away from the public is much harder than most people think. It takes a great amount of effort and time. A number of doctors and nurses from America have volunteered to go to Africa to help treat the Ebola Virus. This virus can only be spread by the contact of bodily fluids from an infected individual. Although most of these medical personnel are well trained and educated on how to handle situations like these, that does not mean that human error in impossible. Being subjected to diseases like this, it is great precaution for the doctors and nurses to be quarantined after their arrival back to the United States. Isolating those who return to America who are infected with the virus may be extreme, but it is the best way to keep the disease separated from the rest of the country. American doctors and nurses are some of the best trained in the medical field in the world, but humans still make mistakes. Someone could touch the saliva of a positively tested Ebola patient and rub their eye or scratch their mouth, infecting them with the disease as well. Knowing their every move and exactly who is treating them in America is the safest place for them to be. This doesn’t only benefit the public, but it benefits them individually. They can be separated from any other acute virus that could end up killing them because of a weakened immune system. Isolation may seem like it would be boring and miserable, but it is very beneficial and effective. This law in Tennessee helps doctors learn more about not only the Ebola virus, but any epidemic disease that were to start spreading around the world. Gaining more knowledge about diseases like this could help medical personnel find a cure or other ways to treat infected people. The ability to find better treatments for the few sick people while they are in America could help hundreds of thousand across the world. Although this virus causes people to die quicker than American doctors have been able to find a better treatment, they are still able to gain more information and knowledge about the illness. This law is not limited to just people either. Tennessee has quarantined and isolated animals and buildings as well. An animal that is suspected to have rabies can be held in isolation because it would be unsafe for people to be around. Homes and other building can also be isolated if deemed unsafe to the public. This is usually what happens when a meth lab is discovered or a large amount of a poisonous substance
