§ 20-7-110 - Study and prevention of diseases.
20-7-110. Study and prevention of diseases.
(a) (1) The State Board of Health has general supervision and control of all matters pertaining to the health of the citizens of this state.
(2) The board shall make a study of the causes and prevention of infectious, contagious, and communicable diseases, and, except as otherwise provided in this act, the board shall have direction and control of all matters of quarantine regulations and enforcement. The board shall have full power and authority to prevent the entrance of such diseases from points outside the state.
(3) The board shall also have direction and control over all sanitary and quarantine measures for dealing with all infectious, contagious, and communicable diseases within the state and direction and control to suppress them and prevent their spread.
(b) Whenever the health of the citizens of this state is threatened by the prevalence of any epidemic or contagious disease in this or any adjoining state and, in the judgment of the Governor, the public safety demands action on the part of the board, then the Governor shall call the attention of the board to the facts and order it to take such action as the public safety of the citizens demands to prevent the spread of the epidemic or contagious disease.