Iowa Flu Quarantine Rumor Untrue

By Cindy Hadish, Reporter

A lab technician demonstrates one of the steps involved in identifying the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu, at the New York City Public Health Laboratory in New York, Sunday, May 3, 2009. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

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By Aaron Hepker

Story Created: Aug 31, 2009 at 3:47 PM CST

Story Updated: Aug 31, 2009 at 3:57 PM CST

DES MOINES - A rumor circulating the Internet that Iowa has instituted a quarantine for the H1N1 flu is untrue. Polly Carver-Kimm, spokeswoman for the Iowa Department of Public Health, said a reporter from Kentucky called the department Monday, asking about the “facility quarantine order.”

Several other people later called, saying they had also received an e-mailed copy of the order. The document states that the department has determined that someone had contact with a person with novel influenza A H1N1, that it is necessary to quarantine movement to a specific facility to prevent further spread of the disease and that home quarantine is not acceptable.

The order is signed by Dr. Patricia Quinlisk, the department’s medical director.
Carver-Kimm said she is not sure where the order originated, but said that templates are often prepared in case they are needed for public health emergencies.

Isolation and quarantine are rarely used and only in very specific situations, she said. Iowa has not issued any isolation and quarantine orders for the H1N1 virus — previously called swine flu — and has no plans to issue any this fall, according to the department.

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