(a) The commissioner has the power to:

Terms Used In Tennessee Code 68-1-201

  • Person: includes a corporation, firm, company or association. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • quarantine: means the limitation of a person's freedom of movement, isolation of a person, or preventing or restricting access to premises upon which the person or the cause or source of a disease may be found, for a period of time as may be necessary to confirm or establish a diagnosis, to determine the cause or source of a disease, or to prevent the spread of a disease. See Tennessee Code 68-1-201
  • State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Declare quarantine whenever, in the commissioner’s judgment, the welfare of the public requires it; and
(2) Prescribe such rules and regulations as may be deemed proper for the prevention of the introduction of yellow fever, cholera and other epidemic diseases into the state.
(b)

(1) Whenever yellow fever, cholera, smallpox or other epidemic diseases appear in any locality within the state, and information thereof is brought to the knowledge of the department, the commissioner shall prepare and carry into effect such rules and regulations as, in the commissioner’s judgment, will, with the least inconvenience to commerce and travel, prevent the spread of the disease.
(2) Whenever the commissioner determines that an influenza outbreak may pose a threat of an epidemic, the commissioner shall prepare and carry into effect rules and regulations that, in the commissioner’s judgment, will, with the least inconvenience to commerce and travel, prevent the spread of the disease.
(c) As used in this part, “quarantine” means the limitation of a person‘s freedom of movement, isolation of a person, or preventing or restricting access to premises upon which the person or the cause or source of a disease may be found, for a period of time as may be necessary to confirm or establish a diagnosis, to determine the cause or source of a disease, or to prevent the spread of a disease.