THE
ORIGIN
AND
BRIEF
HISTORY
OF
QUARANTINE:
The
concept
and
use
of
quarantines
is
very
old
and
appears
to
have
been
first
recorded
around
the
year
A.D.
549.
Despite
its
early
beginnings
it
was
not
until
1348
when
the
city
of
Venice,
Italy
established
the
first
formal
quarantine
program
in
an
effort
to
protect
its
city
from
the
black
plague.
Ships
arriving
from
plague
infected
ports
were
required
by
officials
to
anchor
offshore
for
40
days
before
being
allowed
to
dock.
In
1403 the
city of
Venice
officially
established
the first
known maritime
quarantine
station
on the
island
Santa Maria
di Nazareth.
In 1521
France
opened
its first
maritime
quarantine
in the
city of
Marseilles.
Depending
on the
source,
the word
quarantine
most likely
originated
in Italy
from the
words
"quaranta
giomi"
which
means
forty
however
some claim
that it
originated
in
France
were it
was derived
from the
word "quarantaine"
which means
"group
of forty".
By
the early
1700s laws
had been
established
in most
of the
eastern
coastal
cities
of what
is now
the United
States
that allowed
officials
to use
quarantine
practices
in an effort
to prevent
the spread
of diseases.
In 1893
the United
States
Congress
passes
the "National
Quarantine
Act" and
then in
1944 "The
Public
Health
Service
Act".
By this
time quarantine
procedures
were gaining
international
interest
and cooperation.
At the
same time
beginning
about 1880
the development
and application
of quarantines
to plants
and animals
also began
coming
under regulation
and in
1884 the
Federal
animal
quarantine
law was
enacted.
Today
after nearly
15 centuries
of development
the word
"quarantine"
simply
refers
to a detention,
restriction,
or isolation
of any
duration.
However
the actual
practices
and applications
of quarantines
have become
quite varied
and range
from very
simple
and short
to long
and complex.
Quarantine
procedures
today not
only protect
humans
from diseases,
pests,
and other
contaminates
but they
also protect
plants,
animals,
food, water,
our environment
in general,
and even
our pets.
WHAT
IS QUARANTINE
AND WHAT
IS ITS
PURPOSE:
In
general
a quarantine
is when
someone
(or something)
that appears
to be well
is detained,
restricted,
or isolated
because
they may
have been
exposed
or infected
by a disease
or other
contagion.
The length
of the
quarantine
and how
it is conducted
is determined
by what
it is that
the subject
may have
been exposed
to and
the length
of time
it takes
to become
symptomatic.
The
primary
purpose
of the
quarantine
is to prevent
the spread
of disease
or contamination
into a healthy
population.
Once it
is clearly
determined
that the
individual is not contagious or infectious they may
be released
from quarantine
and allowed
to join
the healthy
population. The
secondary
purpose
of the
quarantine,
when and
if possible,
is to treat
and cure
the individual
so they
may eventually
be allowed
to join
the healthy
population.
As
a quarantine
applies
to those
of us that
keep reptiles
and amphibians
its most important purpose
is first
to protect
the animals
we already
have in
our collection.
Its second
purpose
is to insure
our newly
acquired
animal
is healthy
and if
not allow
us the
opportunity
to treat
it before
placing
it in our
established
collection.
A quarantine
may also
be used
to observe
animals
to see
if they
are desirable
or suitable
for
breeding
programs
or for
behavioral
conditioning.
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