South Carolina Code of Regulations
Chapter 61 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
Subchapter 61-20 - Communicable Diseases
Section 61-20.1 - Definitions

(1) "Authorized Health Officer" means an individual designated by the Director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control or his or her designee as an individual who may act as a health officer pursuant to these regulations.

(2) "Case" means an instance of a particular disease, injury, or other Condition.

(3) "Carrier" means a person or animal that harbors a specific Infectious Agent without discernible clinical disease or manifests symptoms and serves as a potential source of spread of the infection to others.

(4) "CDC" means the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

(5) "Communicable Disease" means an Infectious Disease that can be transmitted from one source to another.

(6) "Condition" means a disease, illness or injury; an illness or abnormality in the body that interferes with a person's usual activities or feeling of wellbeing; any illness or health condition that may be caused by chemical terrorism, bioterrorism, radiological terrorism, epidemic or pandemic disease, or novel and highly infectious agents and might pose a substantial risk of a significant number of human fatalities or incidents of permanent or long-term disability.

(7) "Contact" means an individual known to have been exposed to an infected person or animal or a contaminated environment, if the exposure is sufficient to acquire that particular disease.

(8) "Contagious Disease" means a Communicable Disease capable of spreading easily from one person to another by contact or close proximity. A Contagious Disease can be transmitted from person to person or from animal to person through many means including, but not limited to, direct contact, inhalation of airborne droplets, exchange of bodily fluids, animal or insect bites, and needle-sticks.

(9) "Department" means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

(10) "Director" means the Director of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

(11) "Event" means an occurrence of public health importance due to the possibility of substantial risk of human morbidity or mortality.

(12) "Excludable Disease" means a Communicable Disease for which an individual infected with or exposed to the disease has to be removed from an environment to prevent further transmission.

(13) "Infectious Agent" means an organism, such as a virus or bacteria, capable of producing infection or Infectious Disease.

(14) "Infectious Disease" means a disease caused by an Infectious Agent potentially transferable to individuals. An Infectious Disease may or may not be communicable. An example of a non-communicable, but Infectious Disease is a disease caused by toxins from food poisoning or infection caused by toxins in the environment, such as tetanus.

(15) "Isolation" means the physical separation of persons or animals infected with a Communicable or Infectious Disease from others in such places and under such conditions so as to prevent or limit the direct or indirect transmission of the Infectious Agent.

(16) "Outbreak" means the occurrence of more Cases than normally expected within a specific place or group of people over a given period of time.

(17) "Post-exposure Prophylaxis" means a preventive medical treatment provided to a Contact after the exposure to a disease-causing pathogen in order to prevent the development of the disease.

(18) "Public Health Notice" means a note, card, poster, placard or the like issued by an authorized public health authority conveying information or a warning regarding a known or potential risk to the public health.

(19) "Quarantine" means the restriction of activities and movements of well persons or animals who have been exposed to a Communicable Disease for the purpose of preventing disease transmission during the incubation period should infection occur. Quarantine differs from Isolation in that Isolation applies to persons who are known to be infected with a Communicable Disease. Quarantine applies to those who have been exposed to a Communicable Disease, but who are not yet infected.

(20) "Reportable Condition" means any of the diseases, Conditions or Events identified and published in the Department's Official List of Reportable Conditions of which known or suspected Cases are required to be reported to the Department.