Fact Sheet: Isolation and Quarantine, May 1, 2009

(2009) Fact Sheet: Isolation and Quarantine, May 1, 2009. Public Health, Department of (Health and Human Services, Department of)

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Abstract

To contain the spread of a contagious illness, public health authorities rely on many strategies. Two of these strategies are isolation and quarantine. Both are common practices in public health, and both aim to control exposure to infected or potentially infected persons. Both may be undertaken voluntarily or required by public health authorities. The two strategies differ in that isolation applies to persons who are known to have an illness, and quarantine applies to those who have been exposed to a person who is ill but who may or may not become ill.