Quarantine Stations at Ports of Entry: Protecting the Public's Health (2005)
Millions of humans, animals, and plants travel across the world daily, sometimes acquiring and carrying infections along the way. Both accidental and intentional spread of disease between countries becomes more of a risk as travel gets easier and international trade and business networks become more complex. In responding to greater risks of the spread of infectious disease, attention is being given to the role of quarantine stations in the United States. In 2004 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) asked the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to assess the present CDC quarantine stations and provide recommendations for developing a more effective quarantine system. The IOM convened the Committee on Measures to Enhance the Effectiveness of the CDC Quarantine Station Expansion Plan for U.S. Ports of Entry, and their final report, Quarantine Stations at Ports of Entry: Protecting the Public's Health, discusses how the CDC's current system must evolve if it is to protect the nation from microbial threats in the 21st century.
