Executive Order 14047: Adding Measles to the List of Quarantinable Communicable Diseases
President: Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Amended EO 13295 to add measles to the list of diseases for which federal isolation and quarantine authority may be used.
Status: In effect.
Is Executive Order 14047 still in effect? Yes. The September 17, 2021 amendment added measles to EO 13295, and CDC’s published legal-authorities list still includes it as checked on October 17, 2026. Listing does not automatically place anyone in quarantine. Official record checked October 17, 2026.
What does Executive Order 14047 do?
The amendment changed the disease list; any particular federal isolation or quarantine measure still required separate lawful action.
Section 1 adds one disease—measles—to EO 13295’s existing list. It records a recommendation by the HHS Secretary in consultation with the Surgeon General; it does not tell those officials to produce a new recommendation after signing. The amendment has no sunset, reporting requirement or numerical implementation deadline. Signed sections 1–2.
The legal change made federal isolation and quarantine powers available for measles within the existing statutory and regulatory framework. It did not itself issue an order against an individual, mandate a vaccination campaign or confine every exposed traveler. The distinction is between identifying a disease and exercising authority in a particular case. The list amendment; CDC’s explanation of separate public-health orders.
CDC later described the amendment as an additional tool during Operation Allies Welcome. Its April 29, 2022 report says evacuation flights had already paused on September 10, 2021, before the order; CDC subsequently developed operating procedures for possible federal isolation and quarantine orders. The report says no such orders were issued in that response because of high vaccination coverage and adherence to voluntary recommendations. This is evidence of preparations and a legal backstop, not compulsory federal orders that never occurred. Public Health Response and its sequence.
The same report records flights resuming on October 5, 2021. Those historical response measures do not supply a current quarantine duration or vaccination instruction for a reader. For the present division of authority, CDC explains that federal measures address entry from abroad and interstate spread, while state, local and tribal powers may coexist. Historical resumption date; Federal and other public-health authorities.
Before and after
Before the order
The federal quarantinable-disease list covered specified serious diseases but did not include measles.
After the order
CDC developed procedures and used the added authority as a legal backstop during Operation Allies Welcome; high vaccination and voluntary compliance meant no federal measles quarantine orders were issued in that response.
Who had to do what
EO 14047 changes the disease list and assigns no new agency plan, report or deadline. HHS, through CDC’s delegated functions, carries out any separate federal measure under existing law and regulations; the HHS recommendation and Surgeon General consultation are recited as the basis for the amendment, not new post-signing tasks. Sections 1–2; CDC’s delegated role.
What happened next
Evacuation flights paused before EO 14047 was signed; CDC’s later report documents this as response context, not an action ordered by the amendment. Public Health Response.
EO 14047 signed.
The order was published in the Federal Register, separately from its September 17 signing. Official publication entry.
Operation Allies Welcome international flights resumed, according to CDC’s subsequent report. Documented response chronology.
CDC published its response report: procedures were developed, but no federal public-health isolation or quarantine orders were issued in that response. MMWR report.
No later order removing measles from the EO 13295 list was located.
Legal and source detail
How it works legally
Section 361(b) of the Public Health Service Act authorizes the President’s list. Individual orders remain subject to regulations, scientific evidence, due process and judicial review; listing a disease does not automatically quarantine every exposed person.
Section 361(b) of the Public Health Service Act, codified at 42 U.S.C. 264(b), provides for the presidential disease list following the specified recommendation and consultation. Subsections (c)–(d) distinguish arrivals from abroad from the conditions for interstate apprehension and examination; listing alone does not satisfy every condition for detention. Subsection (e) preserves state law except where it conflicts with federal authority exercised under the statute. 42 U.S.C. 264(b)–(e).
Sources by type
If a source is unavailable, first check the cited publisher or another official repository. The cited publisher remains the authority.
Primary and official sources
Orders, laws, court records and official implementation material.
How we checked this
Last checked against the sources above on September 9, 2026. How we research →
Additional evidence review: October 17, 2026. Read the full signed amendment, CDC’s current published legal-authorities page, the MMWR response narrative and the cited statute. Retained the existing dated review note. No individual detention, current treatment recommendation or exhaustive current litigation clearance is inferred from a disease listing or historical response.