Pres. Bush Signs Executive Order, Adding SARS To List of Communicable Diseases For Which Person Can Be Quarantined
(April 4, 2003) -- President George W. Bush today signed an Executive Order adding SARS (Severe Atypical Respiratory Syndrome) to the list of communicable diseases for which a person can be quarantined. We post the Executive Order text below.
SARS is Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a serious As separately reported by LBReport.com, Councilmembers Jackie Kell and Laura Richardson have agendized an item for the April 8 Council meeting, seeking a report on SARS (Severe Atypical Respiratory Syndrome) from LB City Hall's Director of Health & Human Services, Ronald Arias. (To view this article click Councilmembers Kell & Richardson Seek Report On SARS From LB Health Director @ April 8 Council Meeting.
As of April 3, the CDC reported 30 suspected SARS cases in CA, the largest of any state (NY is second with 17). As of April 2, CA had 24 SARS cases; on March 21, it was six cases.
Responding to an inquiry on April 4 from LBReport.com, L.A. County's Dept. of Health Services reports 7 suspected SARS cases in L.A. County...no change in L.A. County's number of suspected SARS cases on March 31. On March 17, L.A. County reported one suspected SARS case.
On April 3, as previously reported by LBReport.com, the Centers for Disease Control posted a web page with advice -- some very blunt -- for travelers concerning SARS (Severe Atypical Respiratory Syndrome), the serious Among other things, the CDC page states, "Don’t go to mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Hanoi, unless you really have to." CDC's advice to travelers page is heavily hyperlinked, and we post a link to it at: CDC Advice to Travelers.
The CDC website (www.cdc.gov) devotes a special page and detailed information on SARS at CDC detailed information on SARS. Readers should check the CDC SARS page for updates on this rapidly developing story.
April 4 Presidential Executive Order follows:
EXECUTIVE ORDER
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REVISED LIST OF QUARANTINABLE COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 361(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 264(b)), it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Based upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (the "Secretary"), in consultation with the Surgeon General, and for the purpose of specifying certain communicable diseases for regulations providing for the apprehension, detention, or conditional release of individuals to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of suspected communicable diseases, the following communicable diseases are hereby specified pursuant to section 361(b) of the Public Health Service Act:
(a) Cholera; Diphtheria; infectious Tuberculosis; Plague; Smallpox; Yellow Fever; and Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (Lassa, Marburg, Ebola, Crimean-Congo, South American, and others not yet isolated or named).
(b) Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which is a disease associated with fever and signs and symptoms of pneumonia or other respiratory illness, is transmitted from person to person predominantly by the aerosolized or droplet route, and, if spread in the population, would have severe public health consequences.
Sec. 2. The Secretary, in the Secretary's discretion, shall determine whether a particular condition constitutes a communicable disease of the type specified in section 1 of this order.
Sec. 3. The functions of the President under sections 362 and 364(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 265 and 267(a)) are assigned to the Secretary.
Sec. 4. This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit enforceable at law or equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, entities, officers, employees or agents, or any other person.
Sec. 5. Executive Order 12452 of December 22, 1983, is hereby revoked.
GEORGE W. BUSH
THE WHITE HOUSE,
April 4, 2003.
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