ABSTRACT
On 29 October 2014, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced a 21-day controlled monitoring policy. This policy applied to all United States Department of Defense (DoD) service members returning from areas in West Africa affected by Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreaks. Effectively a quarantine policy, the controlled monitoring programme represented a departure from national and international guidance regarding EVD response and precautions. This chapter discusses the ethical issues involved with this policy both in theory and in practice. The first section involves an examination of the policy itself, exploring the motivations behind the policy and its programmatic intent. The second section draws attention to the ethical issues involved. Ultimately this chapter argues that this policy poses serious ethical dilemmas, representing an unnecessary measure in disease control, and an excessive infringement on autonomy and individual rights. The chapter addresses ethical issues unique to the military context, specifically exploring the limited autonomy of enlisted and commissioned DoD service members.
