Legal preparation and pandemic influenza.

摘要

Pandemic influenza is an illness that is both more medically serious than its seasonal counterpart and more threatening socially in that it is capable of spreading rapidly and widely within and among populations. Current concerns have focused on the so-called "avian flu" strain of influenza A (H5N1), and significant expenditures of public funds and human resources are being devoted to both the prevention of, and the response to, the pandemic if it materializes. On paper, local public health practitioners in the United States have substantial powers at their disposal to respond to pandemic flu or other public health emergencies. However, they must not only be aware of the existence of this authority but also have access to the infrastructure of personnel, expertise, processes, and paperwork required to use these powers effectively and fairly. For guidance, public health officials might review the specific steps taken by their counterparts in parallel public health threats. For example, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report of a 2004 measles outbreak in Iowa outlines the "Ten principles of modern quarantine" and offers a list of "Essential questions to review regarding quarantine authority."1 These evocative questions transcend the bare statutory foundations for quarantine and isolation and help the local public health practitioner operationalize the powers that he or she possesses.