Section 1200-14-01-.01 - DEFINITION OF TERMS(1) For the purpose of these regulations the terms used herein are defined as follows: (a) Carrier - A person who harbors, or who is reasonably believed by the Commissioner, health officer, or designee to harbor a specific pathogenic organism and who is potentially capable of spreading the organism to others, whether or not there are presently discernible signs and symptoms of the disease.(b) Case - An instance of an individual or group of individuals who have contracted a reportable disease, health disorder or condition under investigation by CEDS.(c) CEDS - Communicable and Environmental Disease Services in the Bureau of Health Services Administration of the Tennessee Department of Health, or its successor agency.(d) Commissioner - Means the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Health or a designated representative.(e) Communicable Disease - An illness due to an infectious agent or its toxic products which is transmitted directly or indirectly to a well person from an infected person or animal, or through the agency of an intermediate animal host, vector, or inanimate environment.(f) Contact - Any person or animal known to have been in such association with a person or animal reasonably suspected of being infected with a disease-causing agent as to have had the opportunity of acquiring the infection.(g) Contamination - The presence of a pathogenic agent on a body surface on or in an inanimate article or substance.(h) Cultures or Specimens - Material taken from any source and cultured or otherwise examined for the purpose of determining the presence of an organism or organisms or other evidence of infection or disease.(i) Department - All references to the Department in these regulations shall refer to the Tennessee Department of Health.(j) Disinfestation - Any physical or chemical-process by which undesired animal forms, especially arthropods or rodents, present upon the person, the clothing, or in the environment of an individual or on domestic animals, may be destroyed upon the person, his clothing, upon the animal or in the environment of the person.(k) Epidemic (or Disease Outbreak) - The occurrence in a community or region of one or more cases of illness that is in excess of normal expectancy.(l) Event - An occurrence of public health significance and required by the Commissioner to be reported in the List.(m) Healthcare Provider - All persons, facilities and entities regulated pursuant to the provisions of Title 63 and 68, including but not limited to medical doctors, chiropractors, dentists, nurses, nurse practitioners, osteopathic physicians, pharmacists, laboratory personnel, veterinarians, dispensing opticians, nursing home administrators, physician assistants, respiratory care practitioners, clinical perfusionists, and midwives.(n) Inapparent or Subclinical Infection - A person or animal has an inapparent or subclinical infection when the infectious agent has so mild an effect that even though infection is present and identifiable by laboratory means, it is undetected clinically.(o) Incidence - The number of cases of disease, of infection, or other event occurring during a prescribed time period, in relation to the unit of population in which they occur; thus the incidence of tuberculosis expressed as a rate is the number of new cases reported per 100,000 population per year.(p) Infectious Agent - A viable pathogen capable of producing infection or disease.(q) Infected Person - Infected persons include patients or sick persons, persons with inapparent (or subclinical) infection and carriers.(r) Infection - The entry and development or multiplication of a particular pathogen in the body of man or animal.(s) Isolation - The separation for the period of communicability of infected persons, or persons reasonably suspected to be infected, from other persons, in such places and under such conditions as will prevent the direct or indirect conveyance of the infectious agent from infected persons to other persons who are susceptible or who may spread the agent to others.(t) List - Means the List of Reportable Disease and Reporting Mechanisms as set forth by the Commissioner.(u) Local Health Authority - The administrative officer of the local health department appointed by the Commissioner with the duty of executing health programs and enforcing local and Departmental health regulations. If qualified, the health director may be designated also to serve as the health officer. 1. Local Health Director - The administrative officer of the local health department appointed by the Commissioner with the duty of executing health programs and enforcing local and Departmental health regulations. If qualified, the health director may be designated also to serve as the health officer.2. Local Health Officer - A licensed doctor of medicine or osteopathy appointed by the Commissioner to provide medical direction and medical enforcement for the local health department.3. Local Board of Health - An optional board established by local legislative bodies. The board of health may adopt local rules and regulations to protect the general health and safety of citizens. The board of health has the duty to enforce local and Departmental rules and regulations through the local health director and/or the local health officer.(v) Period of Communicability - The time during which an infectious agent may be transmitted from an infected person to others.(w) Quarantine - Limitation of freedom of movement or isolation of a person, or preventing or restricting access to premises upon which the person, 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, and/or to prevent the spread of a disease. These limitations may be accomplished by placing a person in a health care facility or a supervised living situation, by restricting a person to the person's home, or by establishing some other situation appropriate under the particular circumstances.(x) Reportable disease - Any disease which is communicable, contagious, subject to isolation or quarantine, or epidemic, and required by the Commissioner to be reported in the List.(y) Reservoir of Infection - Reservoirs of infection are humans, animals, insects, plants, soil, or inanimate organic matter, in which an infectious agent lives and multiplies and depends primarily for survival, reproducing itself in such manner that it can be transmitted to man.(z) Source of Infection - The person, animal, object, item, or substance from which an infectious agent passes immediately to a host.(aa) Susceptible - A person or animal not known to be immune to a specific disease.(bb) Suspect- A person whose medical history and symptoms, examination or diagnostic tests suggest may have or may be developing a reportable disease.Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1200-14-01-.01
Original rule certified June 7, 1974. Repeal and new rule filed March 31, 1977; effective May 2, 1977. Amendment filed April 14, 1977; effective May 16, 1977. Amendment filed April 20, 1987; effective June 4, 1987. Amendment filed July 10, 1995; effective November 28, 1995. Amendment filed March 30, 2004; effective July 29, 2004. Emergency rule filed October 8, 2009; effective through April 6, 2010. Amendment filed December 29, 2009; effective March 29, 2010.Authority: T.C.A. §§4-5-202, 68-1-103, 68-1-104,68-1-201, and 68-5-104.