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Div. of Media Relations
1600 Clifton Road
MS D-14
Atlanta, GA 30333
(404) 639-3286
Fax (404) 639-7394 |
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Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 22, 2005 |
Contact: CDC Media Relations
404-639-3286
|
CDC Proposes Modernizing Control of
Communicable Disease Regulations
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today proposed
critical updates to existing regulations that will allow the agency to move
more swiftly to control a potential outbreak of disease that may result when
a sick passenger arrives in the United States via commercial airline or ship.
The new proposed regulations are being published in the Federal Register for
public comment.
“CDC is committed to protecting health by preventing the introduction of
communicable diseases into the United States,” said CDC Director Dr. Julie
Gerberding. “These updated regulations are necessary to expedite and improve
CDC operations by facilitating contact tracing and prompting immediate
medical follow up of potentially infected passengers and their contacts.”
The changes are designed to ensure that CDC has the tools in place to
respond to any public health threat that may emerge. Key updates to existing
regulations include:
- Expanded reporting of ill passengers on board interstate flights as
well as airline flights and ships arriving from foreign countries,
- Requirements that ships and airline flights arriving from foreign
countries and certain interstate flights maintain passenger and crew lists
and submit lists electronically to CDC upon request,
- Explicit due process provisions for persons subject to quarantine.
Most public health actions are voluntary because ill and infected
travelers often understand the importance of keeping themselves separated
from others and remaining in a safe location where they receive care. CDC’s
quarantine authority generally would only be used if someone posed a threat
to public health and refused to cooperate with a voluntary request.
In 2003, CDC experienced a number of challenges in contacting airline
passengers who may have been exposed to SARS during travel. Building on the
SARS experience, CDC began increasing the number of quarantine stations and
enhanced the training and response capacity of all staff. In addition, work
began after the outbreak was controlled to evaluate and analyze what changes
were necessary in federal regulations to modernize control of communicable
disease and quarantine regulations. Existing communicable disease regulations
are outdated, have not kept up with advances in disease control measures and
have not been substantially updated for over 25 years.
The Public Health Service Act authorizes HHS to make regulations to
prevent the introduction, transmission, and spread of communicable diseases
into the United States and from one state or possession into any other state
or possession. A communicable disease is one that can pass from a person or
animal to another person. CDC protects Americans’ health by contacting
individuals who may have been exposed to a communicable disease and
recommending appropriate treatments, or through public health actions
including isolation and quarantine. HHS is empowered to prevent persons who
are believed to have one of nine specific communicable diseases from entering
the country through the use of isolation and quarantine. Pandemic influenza
is one of these nine diseases. Cholera, diphtheria, infectious tuberculosis,
plague, smallpox, yellow fever, viral hemorrhagic fevers and SARS complete
the list. CDC carries out these regulations, which can be found at 42 CFR
Parts 70 and 71.
The proposed regulations are available for a 60-day public comment period
at www.regulations.gov and CDC and
HHS encourage the public, industry, and other stakeholders to review and
comment on the proposed update. |
