During the 2003 outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in Southeast Asia, several countries resorted to quarantine measures in an attempt to control the spread of the disease. Taiwan used certain criteria to identify potentially exposed individuals who would then be placed in quarantine.
Criteria for close contact and potential exposure:
(1) A health care worker who evaluated or cared for a SARS patient without adequate personal protective equipment (PPE).
(2) A family member who provided care to a SARS patient.
(3) A person who worked in the same office as a SARS patient AND whose cubicle or work station was located within 10 feet (3 meters) of the one used by the SARS patient.
(4) A close friends of a SARS patient with contact.
(5) A classmates or teachers of a SARS patient AND attended a class for >= 1 hour with the patient.
(6) A person who sat in the same or within 3 adjacent rows from a SARS patient on an airplane flight.
(7) A passenger and driver on public transportation who traveled >= 1 hour on the same bus or train as a SARS patient.
(8) A person who received care in a medical facility in which a cluster of SARS occurred AND who had contact with a person under quarantine or with SARS.
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