On the historical development and current list of 'quarantinable communicable diseases.'

Katherine Watt

Jan 20

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Orientation for new readers.

The legal framework supporting federal and state government use of police power to apprehend, detain and quarantine individuals sits on three legs.

I'm writing about the federal framework because I speculate that the quarantine provisions, directed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Surgeon General, are provisions that the globalists will try to use more forcefully during the next pandemic simulation, through local law enforcement and public health officials: kidnappers working for the federal government while wearing local law enforcement and health care worker uniforms.

The legal tripod includes:

Enabling statute, 42 USC 264, passed by Congress and signed by President Roosevelt in July 1944 and amended several times since;
Presidential executive orders (currently EO 13295 of 2003, as amended); and
Two administrative regulations: one for interstate quarantine (42 CFR 70), and one for foreign quarantine, 42 CFR 71, as amended January 2017.

Current list of quarantinable communicable diseases:

Cholera;
Diphtheria;
infectious Tuberculosis;
Measles;
Plague;
Smallpox;
Yellow Fever;
Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (Lassa, Marburg, Ebola, Crimean-Congo, South American, and others not yet isolated or named)
Severe acute respiratory syndromes, which are diseases that are associated with fever and signs and symptoms of pneumonia or other respiratory illness, are capable of being transmitted from person to person, and that either are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic, or, upon infection, are highly likely to cause mortality or serious morbidity if not properly controlled.
Influenza caused by novel or reemergent influenza viruses that are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic.

STATUTE

The enabling statute is Public Health Service Act (PHSA) Section 361, codified at 42 US Code 264, "Regulations to control communicable diseases."

First few provisions:

42 USC 264(a) Promulgation and enforcement by Surgeon General
The Surgeon General, with the approval of the [Health and Human Services] Secretary, is authorized to make and enforce such regulations as in his judgment are necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the States or possessions, or from one State or possession into any other State or possession. For purposes of carrying out and enforcing such regulations, the Surgeon General may provide for such inspection, fumigation, disinfection, sanitation, pest extermination, destruction of animals or articles found to be so infected or contaminated as to be sources of dangerous infection to human beings, and other measures, as in his judgment may be necessary.
42 USC 264(b) Apprehension, detention, or conditional release of individuals
Regulations prescribed under this section shall not provide for the apprehension, detention, or conditional release of individuals except for the purpose of preventing the introduction, transmission, or spread of such communicable diseases as may be specified from time to time in Executive orders of the President upon the recommendation of the Secretary, in consultation with the Surgeon General.
42 USC 264(c) Application of regulations to persons entering from foreign countries
Except as provided in subsection (d), regulations prescribed under this section, insofar as they provide for the apprehension, detention, examination, or conditional release of individuals, shall be applicable only to individuals coming into a State or possession from a foreign country or a possession.

[Translation: regulations “only” apply to people entering the United States from abroad, except they also apply, per (d)(1), below, to people traveling between US states, or spending time with other people who might be traveling between US states.]

42 USC 264(d)(1) Apprehension and examination of persons reasonably believed to be infected
Regulations prescribed under this section may provide for the apprehension and examination of any individual reasonably believed to be infected with a communicable disease in a qualifying stage and (A) to be moving or about to move from a State to another State; or (B) to be a probable source of infection to individuals who, while infected with such disease in a qualifying stage, will be moving from a State to another State. Such regulations may provide that if upon examination any such individual is found to be infected, he may be detained for such time and in such manner as may be reasonably necessary. For purposes of this subsection, the term "State" includes, in addition to the several States, only the District of Columbia.

On June 12, 2002, Congress and President Bush added 42 USC 264(d)(2), introducing the term "precommunicable stage" and "likely to cause a public health emergency" as legal predicates authorizing apprehension and detention of individuals.

42 USC 264(d)(2) For purposes of this subsection, the term ‘‘qualifying stage’’, with respect to a communicable disease, means that such disease—
(A) is in a communicable stage; or
(B) is in a precommunicable stage, if the disease would be likely to cause a public health emergency if transmitted to other individuals.

ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS

For this post, I didn't do a detailed analysis of the development of the two quarantine regulations: 42 CFR 70 and 42 CFR 71, and changes over time in definitions of communicable disease, quarantinable communicable disease, quarantine, isolation, qualifying stage, precommunicable, asymptomatic, is transmitted, is capable of being transmitted, cause, have the potential to cause, non-invasive and many other terms and phrases.

For readers interested in that development process, below at the footnote¹ are links to some of the relevant Federal Register entries.

Start with Section V, Overview of Public Comments (pp. 6894-6930) of the 89-page Jan. 19, 2017 Federal Register Final Rule entry.

Several commenters responded to HHS' Aug. 15, 2016 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, raising concerns about violations of the Fourth Amendment due to lack of probable cause and warrants:

US Constitution, Fourth Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

In the Jan. 19, 2017 Final Rule, HHS reported on these and other comments raising Constitutional concerns, emphasizing the “non-law enforcement,” “border search,” “special need, and “emergency civil commitment” character of apprehension and detention procedures carried out under public health pretexts.

HHS respondents connected quarantine authority to warrantless drug and alcohol testing conducted without probable cause in employment contexts, as upheld by the Supreme Court in two 1989 cases.

Jan. 19, 2017 Final Rule, Control of Communicable Diseases, at pp. 6689-6690:

...Several commenters questioned whether quarantine and isolation may be carried out consistent with the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. One commenter also suggested that implementation of public health prevention measures at airports would lead to ‘‘unreasonable searches and seizures’’ under the Fourth Amendment.
HHS/CDC disagrees with these assertions. The Fourth Amendment protects the rights of persons to be free in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable government searches and seizures.
HHS/CDC notes that at ports of entry, routine apprehensions and examinations related to quarantine and isolation may fall under the border-search doctrine, which provides that, in general, searches conducted by CBP officers at the border are not subject to the requirements of first establishing probable cause or obtaining a warrant. See United States v. Roberts, 274 F.3d 1007, 1011 (5th Cir. 2001); see also United States v. Bravo, 295 F.3d 1002, 1006 (9th Cir. 2002) (noting that only in circumstances involving extended detentions or intrusive medical examinations have courts required that border searches be premised upon reasonable suspicion).
Similarly, apprehensions and examination of persons traveling interstate under this rule are authorized under the special-needs doctrine articulated by the Supreme Court in Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives’ Ass’n, 489 U.S. 602 (1989) because of the ‘‘special need’’ in preventing communicable disease spread.
Furthermore, to the extent that ‘‘probable cause,’’ rather than ‘‘special needs,’’ would be the applicable Fourth Amendment standard, HHS/CDC contends that meeting the requirements of 42 U.S.C. 264 satisfies this standard. See Villanova v. Abrams, 972 F.2d 792, 795 (7th Cir.1992) (noting that probable cause for emergency civil commitment exists where "there are reasonable grounds for believing that the person seized is subject to the governing legal standard.")...
HHS/CDC received a comment citing Missouri v. McNeely, where the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police must generally obtain a warrant before subjecting a drunken-driving suspect to a blood test, and that the natural metabolism of blood alcohol does not establish a per se exigency that would justify a blood draw without consent.
In response, HHS/CDC notes that courts have recognized that while the requirements for probable cause and a warrant generally apply in a criminal context, these standards do not apply when the government is conducting a non-law enforcement related activity. See Nat’l Treasury Employees Union v. Von Raab, 489 U.S. 665 (1989) (reaffirming the general principle that a government search may be conducted without probable cause and a warrant when there is a special governmental need, beyond the normal need for law enforcement).
HHS/CDC reiterates that the special-needs doctrine articulated by the Supreme Court in Skinner v. Railway Labor Executives’ Ass’n., 489 U.S. 602 (1989) provides the appropriate legal standard under the Fourth Amendment for apprehensions and detentions under this final rule...

EXECUTIVE ORDERS

The first president to issue an executive order specifying quarantinable communicable diseases under 42 USC 264(b) was Truman.

March 26, 1946, Executive Order 9708, Specifying Communicable Diseases for the Purpose of Regulations Providing for the Apprehension, Detention, or Conditional Release of Individuals to Prevent the Introduction, Transmission, or Spread of Communicable Diseases, listed Anthrax, Chancroid, Cholera, Dengue, Diptheria, Favus, Gonorrhea, Granuloma Inguinale, Infectious Encephalitis, Leprosy, Lymphogranuloma Venereum, Meningococcus Meningitis, Plague, Poliomyelitis, Psittacosis, Ringworm of the Scalp, Scarlet Fever, Smallpox, Streptococcic Sore Throat, Syphilis, Trachoma, Tuberculosis, Typhoid Fever, Typhus, Yellow Fever.

In May 1954, President Eisenhower issued Executive Order 10532, adding Relapsing Fever (louse-borne) to the list.

In December 1962, President Kennedy issued Executive Order 11070, adding Chickenpox and replacing Scarlet Fever and Streptococcic Sore Throat with Hemolytic Streptococcal Infections.

In December 1983, President Reagan issued Executive Order 12452, revoking Executive Orders 9708, 10532 and 11070 and providing a new list: "Cholera or suspected Cholera; Diphtheria; infectious Tuberculosis; Plague; suspected Smallpox; Yellow Fever; suspected Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (Lassa, Marburg, Ebola, Congo-Crimean and others not yet isolated or named)."

In April 2003, President Bush issued Executive Order 13295, revoking EO 12452.

At Section 1(a), Bush listed 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).

At Section 1(b), Bush added common respiratory illnesses under the new name "SARS":

"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."

At Section 2, Bush decreed that the HHS Secretary, "in the Secretary’s discretion, shall determine whether a particular condition constitutes a communicable disease of the type specified."

At Section 3, Bush assigned "the functions of the President" under 42 U.S.C. 265 [Suspension of entries and imports from designated places to prevent spread of communicable diseases] and 267(a)) [Quarantine stations, grounds, and anchorages - Control and management] to the HHS Secretary.

In April 2005, President Bush, issued Executive Order 13375, amending his 2003 EO by adding ‘‘Section 1(c) Influenza caused by novel or reemergent influenza viruses that are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic.’’

The full list as of April 2005 included Cholera; Diphtheria; infectious Tuberculosis; Plague; Smallpox; Yellow Fever; Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (Lassa, Marburg, Ebola, Crimean-Congo, South American, and others not yet isolated or named); 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; Influenza caused by novel or reemergent influenza viruses that are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic.

In July 2014, President Obama issued Executive Order 13674, amending the 2003 Bush EO, to replace the SARS section with a new version:

“Severe acute respiratory syndromes, which are diseases that are associated with fever and signs and symptoms of pneumonia or other respiratory illness, are capable of being transmitted from person to person, and that either are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic, or, upon infection, are highly likely to cause mortality or serious morbidity if not properly controlled. This subsection does not apply to influenza.’’

In September 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14047, adding Measles.

The current, complete list is as follows:

Cholera;
Diphtheria;
infectious Tuberculosis;
Measles;
Plague;
Smallpox;
Yellow Fever; and
Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (Lassa, Marburg, Ebola, Crimean-Congo, South American, and others not yet isolated or named)
Severe acute respiratory syndromes, which are diseases that are associated with fever and signs and symptoms of pneumonia or other respiratory illness, are capable of being transmitted from person to person, and that either are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic, or, upon infection, are highly likely to cause mortality or serious morbidity if not properly controlled.
Influenza caused by novel or reemergent influenza viruses that are causing, or have the potential to cause, a pandemic.

To coordinate and deploy state and local law enforcement officer and health care worker use of apprehension and detention authority officers, the HHS Secretary, Surgeon General or possibly a delegate working at the CDC, will probably issue written quarantine orders, in conjunction with state-level orders issued by state health officials under state public health emergency/Model State Emergency Health Powers Act laws.

Although final CDC orders were not, to my knowledge, issued for SARS-CoV-2, a draft order was prepared:

Feb. 13, 2020 - Draft Order for Quarantine under Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act, 42 Code Of Federal Regulations Part 70 (Interstate) And Part 71 (Foreign)

Self-defense advice:

Local law enforcement and public health officials — acting under the legal authority they believe is delegated by HHS Secretary or Surgeon General federal quarantine orders and corresponding state-level quarantine orders — may at some point engage in door-to-door visits indicating an interest in conducting diagnostic tests, providing treatments, or escorting people to a nearby vehicle for transport to a hospital or medical holding facility.

Such law enforcement officers (LEO) and health care workers (HCW) will verbally suggest that they have the targets’ best interests in mind. They do not. LEOs and HCWs will be tasked with transporting targets to secondary locations at which additional crimes will take place by a different team of law enforcement and public health officers.

Politely, verbally decline these invitations, and indicate your preparedness to reinforce your polite refusal with more forceful self-defense tactics should the law enforcement officers and health care workers refuse to quietly return to their vehicles.

Discuss your self-defense plans openly on the phone, in emails and in person for the benefit of the federal government eavesdroppers.

It's plausible that if American quarantine targets respond to early attempted assaults and kidnappings in these ways, the federal quarantine, apprehension and detention programs will be discontinued.

Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn , The Gulag Archipelago:

“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family?
Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?...
The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin's thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt!
If...if...We didn't love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation.... We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.”

42 USC 264/42 CFR 70/42 CFR 71 – Control of Communicable Disease, Quarantine