(a) Proof; Examinations.
(1) Proof of active or communicable tuberculosis (TB) shall be considered established by either of the following:
A. Identification of tubercle bacilli in sputum, or other body fluid, secretion or excretion.
B. Chest X-ray findings interpreted as active tuberculosis by a competent medical authority. This latter method shall be designated in cases of disagreement by the Health Commissioner, who shall be the local tuberculosis controller, or a medical center of a tuberculosis hospital.
(2) Bacteriologic communicability shall be considered to exist for at least three months and thereafter, until three consecutive sputem specimens collected on different days have been found to contain no tubercle bacilli.
(3) A contact, which means anyone in close association with a case of communicable tuberculosis, must also undergo TB testing and/or chest X- ray examination when advised by the Health Commissioner. The Health Commissioner is also empowered to order examination of any person who, because of symptoms or otherwise, is suspected of having tuberculosis, and to require re-examination at intervals by X-ray and bacteriological examination of the sputum or other discharge. These studies may be made by any physician of the individual’s choice, or in a tuberculosis hospital diagnostic clinic. In the former event, X-ray and laboratory reports may be requested for review, if an indication if present. Re-examination may be directed until five years after an arrested diagnosis has been made.
(4) Reporting of results of all investigations of known or suspected cases of tuberculosis to the Board of Health shall be mandatory on a private physician, dispensary, clinic, hospital, asylum, or other public, semipublic or private institution.
(b) Home Isolation.
(1) Home visiting by nurses or other personnel of the Board of Health is hereby authorized in order to determine whether the patient and family are willing or able to follow necessary procedures in cases of active or suspected tuberculosis. Any person with communicable tuberculosis may then be forcibly isolated in the tuberculosis hospital isolation division, if it is established that any of the following occur:
A. Residence in any home or lodging house where housing arrangements and precautions are such as to endanger the health of other persons.
B. Occupancy in any sleeping room with another.
C. Contact of any description with children under the age of sixteen years.
D. Attendance at restaurants, public gatherings, entertainments, or schools, or exposure by the patient in a street, shop, inn, bar, theater or other public place or public conveyance.
E. Failure to cover the mouth when coughing, or improper disposal of sputum and contaminated tissues as defined by the Board of Health.
F. Expectorating on floors, streets, walks, or other public or private places.
(2) The Health Commissioner is hereby given authority to determine whether a case of communicable tuberculosis is properly isolated in the home. His decision shall be independent of whether the patient is or is not under the treatment by a private physician; however, private physician care is permissible, if the patient adheres closely to the enumerated requirements for home isolation.
(3) Should any of these provisions be broken under direct observation of a representative of the Board of Health and not through hearsay evidence, and should the patient be unwilling or unable to correct these infractions, compulsory admission to, and detention in the isolation unit of a hospital may then be ordered by the Health Commissioner. Such transfer, under law enforcement escort if so ordered by the Health Commissioner, shall be to a hospital designated by the Board of Health and the hospital shall detain the person for the period of time recommended by the Health Commissioner, however, the right of petition for discharge from institutional isolation shall, in all cases, be permitted. Submission of a written request to the Health Commissioner shall entitle the patient’s authorized representative to a hearing before the Board of Health.
(1993 Code 94.25)