State and federal public health laws provide the authority to restrict the liberty
of individuals to protect the public health and safety. This includes the power
to isolate individuals (quarantine), to force individuals to be immunized or
treated, and to restrict the activities in which the individual may engage.
Forced quarantine has fallen into disuse since antibiotics and the use of specific
behavioral restrictions has made it possible to allow infected individuals more
personal freedom without endangering others. However, quarantine is still
used on some patients, such as tuberculosis carriers whose disease is resistant
to all the antituberculosis drugs available. Mandatory immunization or
incarceration for treatment is still used by public health officials.