Can I Be Detained For Being Ill?

Introduction

The Ebola virus is an epidemic ravaging the West African countries of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, and threatens to become a broader pandemic. The first known cases of Ebola infected individuals being in the U.S. were two American healthcare workers who contracted the disease while caring for patients in Liberia, and were then transported back into the U.S. to receive treatment. The infected healthcare professionals were transported in specially equipped vehicles (both ground and air transportation) and assisted by other healthcare professionals in "Haz-Mat" type protective gear. Once in the U.S., both were quarantined in special care units in hospitals for a period of several weeks. With the use of experimental medications not yet certified for public use by the Food and Drug Administration, the two workers fully recovered from their illness. No one else contracted the virus from these two individuals.