The Recent outbreak of Norovirus at a local resturaunt, now seeming to have come from the passengers of the cruise ship Carnival Glory brings up the topic of Quarantine .
Today ships fly the Q flag to indicate that they have not yet cleared customs, However in the past, the Flag was used to indicate that there was an illness aboard ship. Canada has a Quarantine act that applies to marrine traffic.
The Act states: 12.
(1) Where, in the course of a voyage of a vessel to one of the ports referred to in subsection (3), (a) a member of the crew or a passenger on board the vessel has
(i) died,
(ii) had a temperature of 38°C (100°F) or greater that persisted for two days or more or was accompanied or followed by a rash, jaundice or glandular swelling, or
(iii) suffered from diarrhea severe enough to interfere with that person’s work or normal activity,
the person in charge of the vessel shall, by radio at least 24 hours prior to the vessel’s estimated time of arrival at its port of destination and between the hours of 9 o’clock in the forenoon and 5 o’clock in the afternoon, notify the quarantine officer at the quarantine station designated in subsection (3) for that port of the occurrence and provide him with the information described in subsection (2).
(2) The information to be provided to the quarantine officer pursuant to subsection (1) is
(a) the name and nationality of the vessel;
(b) the ports called at during the voyage of the vessel;
(c) the nature of the cargo on board the vessel;
(d) the number of persons comprising the crew of the vessel;
(e) the number of passengers on board the vessel;
(f) the port of destination of the vessel and the name of the vessel’s owner or, if the owner is not in Canada, the name of the vessel’s agent in Canada;
(g) the condition of all persons on board the vessel and details of any death or illness occurring during the voyage;
(h) whether the body of any person is being carried on the vessel;
(i) the estimated time of arrival of the vessel at the port of destination;
(j) the number of persons on board the vessel who are not in possession of valid evidence of immunization to smallpox; and
(k) the date and place of issuance of any de-ratting certificate or de-ratting exemption certificate applicable to the vessel.
(3) For the purpose of subsection (1), the quarantine station for vessels bound for (a) a port in the Province of Nova Scotia or a port in the Province of Prince Edward Island, is Quarantine Station, Halifax, Nova Scotia;
In Halifax, The Quarantine Station is at Anchorage 1, and is identified by the Symbol of a cross in a circle as below:
