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Definition: quarantine from Collins English Dictionary

n

1 a period of isolation or detention, esp of persons or animals arriving from abroad, to prevent the spread of disease, usually consisting of the maximum known incubation period of the suspected disease

2 the place or area where such detention is enforced

3 any period or state of enforced isolation ▷vb (tr)

4 to isolate in or as if in quarantine

5 Austral to withhold (a portion of a welfare payment) from a person or group of people

[C17: from Italian quarantina period of forty days, from quaranta forty, from Latin quadrāgintā]

quarantine

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(kwŏr'Әntēn), isolation of persons, animals, places, and effects that carry or are suspected of harboring communicable disease. The term originally referred to the 40 days of offshore wait during which incoming vessels could not discharge passengers or cargo in the era when plague and other great epidemics swept across Europe. The practice has been changed by developments in medical science. Usually the word of the ship's officer that the passengers are free of disease and presentation by the passengers of certificates of inoculation against certain diseases are now sufficient to permit passage of travelers from one country to another. Some nations still maintain extended periods of quarantine for cattle and household pets coming from another country to guard against such diseases as foot-and-mouth disease and rabies. Plant life may also be held for assurance that fungus and other plant diseases are not being introduced. Local quarantine regulations are also in effect to guard against…
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Full text Article quarantine

From The Macquarie Dictionary
a strict isolation designed to prevent the spread of disease. Plural: quarantines a period, originally forty days, of detention or isolation imposed upon ships, persons, etc., on arrival at a port or place, when liable or suspected to be bringing some infectious or contagious disease. Plural: …
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Full text Article quarantine

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
a. A condition, period of time, or place in which a person, animal, plant, vehicle, or amount of material suspected of carrying an infectious agent is kept in confinement or isolated in an effort to prevent disease from spreading. b. An action resulting in such a condition: the government's…
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Full text Article quarantine

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(kwŏr'Әntēn), isolation of persons, animals, places, and effects that carry or are suspected of harboring communicable disease. The term originally referred to the 40 days of offshore wait during which incoming vessels could not discharge passengers or cargo in the era when plague and other great…
| 267 words
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Full text Article Quarantine

From The Big Idea: How Breakthroughs of the Past Shape the Future Full text Article Health & Medicine
Date: 1343 Both the Book of Leviticus in the Bible and the Koran prescribed isolation for victims of leprosy. However, a more formal policy of quarantine was first conceived in the context of Europe's Black Death. Beginning in 1343, ships arriving in Venice were required to remain offshore for 40…
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Full text Article Quarantine

From Black's Veterinary Dictionary
The imposition of measures for preventing the spread of infectious disease by which an animal or animals, which have come from potentially infected countries or areas, are kept separate from indigenous animals until their disease-free status is confirmed (or otherwise). The regulations dealing with…
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Full text Article Quarantine and Isolation

From Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health
An Ebola patient in an isolation unit (CDC/Dr....
Quarantine and isolation describes the voluntary or involuntary removal of one or more persons, animals, or goods from the general population for the purpose of providing special treatment, interrupting the spread of a disease or protecting other elements (persons, animals, or goods). Though…
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Full text Article Isolation and Quarantine

From Worldmark Global Health and Medicine Issues
© Kyodo/AP Images. Male beagle dogs little Man...
Isolation and quarantine are methods used to prevent the exposure of the public to people who may have a contagious disease. Isolation separates sick people who have a contagious disease from people who are not sick. Quarantine separates and restricts the movement of people who may have been exposed…
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Full text Article quarantine

From Dictionary of Leisure, Travel and Tourism
medical a situation in which a person, animal or ship just arrived in a country is kept isolated for a period of time in case he, she or it carries a serious disease The animals were put in quarantine on arrival at the port. A ship in quarantine shows a yellow flag. ■ verb to put a person or animal…
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Full text Article quarantine

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Detention of humans or animals suspected to have communicable disease until they are proved free of infection. The term is often used interchangeably with isolation (separation of a known infected individual from healthy ones until the danger of transmission passes). It derives from the 40-day ( …
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Full text Article quarantine

From The American Heritage Dictionary of Medicine
a. A condition, period of time, or place in which a person, animal, plant, vehicle, or amount of material suspected of carrying an infectious agent is kept in confinement or isolated in an effort to prevent disease from spreading. b. An action resulting in such a condition: the government's…
| 134 words
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