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# Category: Public Health and Safety

**Topics: **Drug and Food SafetyFacilities and Medical EquipmentDealing with Communicable Disease

### Drug and Food Safety

##         Are generic drugs the same as brand name drugs?      

The HHS Food and Drug Administration (FDA) works with pharmaceutical companies to ensure that all drugs marketed in the United States meet specifications for identity, strength, quality, purity, and potency. Before approving a generic drug product, FDA requires many rigorous tests and procedures to ensure that the generic drug can be substituted for the brand name drug.

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##         Is aspartame safe?      

After reviewing scientific studies, the HHS Food and Drug Administration (FDA) determined in 1981 that aspartame was safe for use in foods. In 1987, the General Accounting Office investigated the process surrounding FDA's approval of aspartame and confirmed the agency had acted properly.

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##         What is a food additive?      

Legally, a food additive is any substance the intended use of which results or may reasonably be expected to result (directly or indirectly) in its becoming a component or otherwise affecting the characteristics of any food." This includes any substance used in the production, processing, treatment, packaging, transportation, or storage of food.

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##         What is the difference between Salmonella and E. coli?      

Salmonella and E. coli are different types of bacteria. Salmonella occurs in raw poultry, eggs, beef, and sometimes on unwashed fruit and vegetables. You can get E. coli infections by eating foods containing the bacteria.

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### Facilities and Medical Equipment

##         How can I reduce my exposure to radiation from X-rays?      

Before being x-rays, ask your health care professional how an X-ray will help. How will it help find out what's wrong or determine your treatment?

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### Dealing with Communicable Disease

##         How is isolation and quarantine enforced during a disease outbreak?      

If a quarantinable disease is suspected or identified, the CDC may issue a Federal isolation or quarantine order. Public health authorities at the federal, state, local, and tribal levels may sometimes seek help from police or other law enforcement officers to enforce a public health order.

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##         Who has the authority to enforce isolation and quarantine because of a communicable disease?      

The U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services is authorized to take measures to prevent the entry and spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the United States and between states. The authority for carrying out these functions on a daily basis has been delegated to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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##         What is the difference between isolation and quarantine?      

Isolation is used to separate ill persons who have a communicable disease from those who are healthy. Quarantine is used to separate and restrict the movement of well persons who may have been exposed to a communicable disease to see if they become ill.

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##         What diseases are subject to Federal isolation and quarantine law?      

By Executive Order of the President, federal isolation and quarantine are authorized for these communicable diseases: Cholera, Diphtheria, Infectious tuberculosis, Plague, Smallpox, Yellow fever, Viral hemorrhagic fevers (like Ebola), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Flu that can cause a pandemic.

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