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2015 SESSION
15100736DBe it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 32.1-48.06 and 32.1-48.08 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 32.1-48.06. Definitions.
As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning:
"Affected area" means any part or the whole of the Commonwealth, which has been identified as where persons reside, or may be located, who are known to have been exposed to or infected with or who are reasonably suspected to have been exposed to or infected with a communicable disease of public health threat. "Affected area" shall include, but not be limited to, cities, counties, towns, and subsections of such areas, public and private property, buildings, and other structures.
"Communicable disease of public health threat" means
an illness of public health significance, as determined by the State Health Commissioner in
accordance with regulations of the Board of Health,
caused by a specific or suspected infectious agent that may be reasonably
expected or is known to be readily transmitted directly or indirectly from one
individual to another and has been found to create a risk of death or
significant injury or impairment; this definition
shall.
"Communicable disease of public health threat"
includes the Ebola virus, but
shall not, however,
be construed to include human immunodeficiency viruses or tuberculosis, unless
used as a bioterrorism weapon. "Individual" shall
include For the purposes of this
definition, "individual" includes
any companion animal. Further, whenever "person or persons" is used
herein it shall be deemed, when the context requires it, to include any
individual.
"Companion animal" means, consistent with the provisions of § 3.2-6500, any domestic or feral dog, domestic or feral cat, nonhuman primate, guinea pig, hamster, rabbit not raised for human food or fiber, exotic or native animal, reptile, exotic or native bird, or any feral animal or any animal under the care, custody, or ownership of a person or any animal that is bought, sold, traded, or bartered by any person. Agricultural animals, game species, or any animals regulated under federal law as research animals shall not be considered companion animals for the purposes of this article.
"Isolation" means the physical separation, including confinement or restriction of movement, of an individual or individuals who are infected with or are reasonably suspected to be infected with a communicable disease of public health threat in order to prevent or limit the transmission of the communicable disease of public health threat to other uninfected and unexposed individuals.
"Law-enforcement agency" means any sheriff's office, police department, adult or youth correctional officer, or other agency or department that employs persons who have law-enforcement authority that is under the direction and control of the Commonwealth or any local governing body. "Law-enforcement agency" shall include, by order of the Governor, the Virginia National Guard.
"Quarantine" means the physical separation, including confinement or restriction of movement, of an individual or individuals who are present within an affected area, as defined herein, or who are known to have been exposed or may reasonably be suspected to have been exposed to a communicable disease of public health threat and who do not yet show signs or symptoms of infection with the communicable disease of public health threat in order to prevent or limit the transmission of the communicable disease of public health threat to other unexposed and uninfected individuals.
"Quarantine zone" means an area at any point of entry into the Commonwealth, including an airport, seaport, or marine terminal, secured by the Commissioner for the purpose of providing a location to quarantine an individual arriving to the Commonwealth from a foreign country in which a communicable disease of public health threat, including the Ebola virus, has caused the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue a Level 3 Travel Health Notice.
§ 32.1-48.08. Declaration of quarantine.
A. The State Health
Commissioner may declare a quarantine of any person or persons or any affected
area after he finds that the quarantine is the necessary means to contain a
communicable disease of public health threat as defined in § 32.1-48.06 to
which such person or persons or the people of an affected area have been or may
have been exposed and thus may become infected.
B. The State Health
Commissioner shall record his findings and any information on which he has
relied in making the finding required for quarantine pursuant to subsection A.
The State Health Commissioner's record
of findings concerning any communicable disease of public health threat shall
be confidential and shall not be disclosed in accordance with subdivision 17 of
§ 2.2-3705.5.
C. The State Health
Commissioner may order the quarantined person or persons to remain in their
residences, to remain in another place where they are present, or to report to
a place or places designated by the State Health
Commissioner for the duration of their quarantine. An electronic device may be
used to enforce any such quarantine. The Commissioner's order of quarantine
shall be for a duration consistent with the known incubation period for such
disease or, if the incubation period is unknown, for a period anticipated as
being consistent with the incubation period for other similar infectious
agents.
D. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Governor is authorized to establish quarantine zones at any time when an individual enters the Commonwealth where his point of origin is a foreign country in which a communicable disease of public health threat, including the Ebola virus, has caused the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue a Level 3 Travel Health Notice. The Governor is authorized to direct the Commissioner to declare a quarantine of any individual arriving from such country who has been exposed or is reasonably believed to have been exposed to such disease. A person held in a quarantine zone pursuant to this subsection shall remain in the quarantine zone for a duration consistent with the known incubation period for such disease or, if the incubation period is unknown, for a period anticipated as being consistent with the incubation period for other similar infectious agents.
2. That an emergency exists and this act is in force from its passage.