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County approves quarantine law to stall disease spread
<!-- CONTENT --> <script language="JavaScript">varUsername = "jeckhoff@dmreg.com";document.write("BY JEFF ECKHOFF");</script>BY JEFF ECKHOFF
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
http://www.dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061128/NEWS/61128027/1001/NEWS
November 28, 2006
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Polk County residents or animals who come down with cholera, smallpox , SARS or any of a host of other rapid-spreading diseases could be forcibly confined under a new quarantine ordinance approved by the Polk County Supervisors on Tuesday.
The ordinance, which faces two more votes before it takes effect, spells out in great detail how quarantine procedures would be invoked to contain any disease judged to present ?a risk of serious harm to public health and which may require isolation or quarantine to prevent its spread.?
County health director Terri Henkels said the ordinance is part of a state-wide effort to prepare for future pandemics or acts of terrorism.
?There?s some state statutory ability that has allowed us to do that before, but it?s never been put into an ordinance,? Henkels said.
Read details of the new law in Wednesday's Des Moines Register.
<!-- CONTENT --> <script language="JavaScript">varUsername = "jeckhoff@dmreg.com";document.write("BY JEFF ECKHOFF");</script>BY JEFF ECKHOFF
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
http://www.dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061128/NEWS/61128027/1001/NEWS
November 28, 2006
<table style="margin-top: 0px;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="middle">
</td><td style="padding-top: 1px;"> Add comment</td></tr></tbody></table> Polk County residents or animals who come down with cholera, smallpox , SARS or any of a host of other rapid-spreading diseases could be forcibly confined under a new quarantine ordinance approved by the Polk County Supervisors on Tuesday.
The ordinance, which faces two more votes before it takes effect, spells out in great detail how quarantine procedures would be invoked to contain any disease judged to present ?a risk of serious harm to public health and which may require isolation or quarantine to prevent its spread.?
County health director Terri Henkels said the ordinance is part of a state-wide effort to prepare for future pandemics or acts of terrorism.
?There?s some state statutory ability that has allowed us to do that before, but it?s never been put into an ordinance,? Henkels said.
Read details of the new law in Wednesday's Des Moines Register.