How Ebola quarantines actually work, explained

A young man, dressed in a biohazard costume, stands on the corner of 546 West 147th Street in New York City. Bryan Thomas/Getty Images

VOX                                                                       Oct. 29, 2014
By Julia Bellez
As Ebola fears wash over America, some state governors are turning to mandatory quarantines: locking up healthy workers returning from West Africa for 21 days, Ebola's incubation period. The policy in New Jersey made national headlines after it resulted in a nurse who had no Ebola symptoms — and had been fighting the disease in West Africa, no less — being isolated in a poorly heated tent with no running shower or toilet.

Public-health experts see the measure as extreme and unnecessary. President Barack Obama rejected the idea of quarantining health workers, saying it would undermine the relief effort in West Africa. But state politicians are running ahead with quarantines anyway. Here are six things you need to know about the Ebola quarantine controversy:

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http://www.vox.com/2014/10/28/7079655/quarantine-explainer