International Health Regulations > Part I : Definitions

Article 1

For the purposes of these Regulations-

Aedes aegypti index means the ratio, expressed as a percentage, between the number of houses in a limited well-defined area on the premises of which actual breeding places of Aedes aegypti are found, and the total number of houses examined in that area;

aerosol dispenser means a dispenser holding a pressurized formulation which produces an insecticidal aerosol when the valve is opened;

aircraft means an aircraft making an international voyage;

airport means an airport designated by the Member State in whose territory it is situated as an airport of entry and departure for international air traffic, where the formalities incidental to customs, immigration, public health, animal and plant quarantine and similar procedures are carried out;

arrival of a ship, an aircraft, a train or a road vehicle means-

a)	in the case of a seagoing vessel, arrival at a port,

b)	in the case of an aircraft, arrival at an airport;

c)	in the case of an inland navigation vessel, arrival either at a port or at a frontier post, as geographical conditions and treaties or arrangements among the States concerned, under Article 98 or under the laws and regulations in force in the territory of entry, may determine;

d)	in the case of a train or road vehicle, arrival at a frontier post;

baggage means the personal effects of a traveller or of a member of the crew;

container (freight container) means an article of transport equipment -

a)	of a permanent character and accordingly strong enough to be suitable for repeated use;

b)	specially designed to facilitate the carriage of goods, by one or more modes of transport, without intermediate reloading;

c)	fitted with devices permitting its ready handling, particularly its transfer from one mode of transport to another;

d)	so designed as to be easy to fill and empty.

The term "container (freight container)" does not include vehicles or conventional packing;

crew means the personnel of a ship, an aircraft, a train, a road vehicle or other means of transport who are employed for duties on board;

day means an interval of twenty-four hours;

direct transit area means a special area established in connection with an airport, approved by the health authority concerned and under its direct supervision, for accommodating direct transit traffic and, in particular, for accommodating, in segregation, passengers and crews breaking their air voyage without leaving the airport;

Director-General means the Director-General of the Organization;

diseases subject to the Regulations (quarantinable diseases) means cholera, including cholera due to the eltor vibrio, plague, smallpox, including variola minor (alastrim), and yellow fever;

disinsecting means the operation in which measures are taken to kill the insect vectors of human disease present in ships, aircraft, trains, road vehicles, other means of transport, and containers;

epidemic means an extension of a disease subject to the Regulations by a multiplication of cases in an area;

free pratique means permission for a ship to enter a port, disembark and commence operation, or for an aircraft, after landing, to disembark and commence operation;

health administration means the governmental authority responsible over the whole of a territory to which these Regulations apply for the implementation of the health measures provided herein;

health authority means the authority immediately responsible in its jurisdiction for the appropriate health measures permitted or prescribed by these Regulations;

imported case means an infected person arriving on an international voyage;

infected area is defined on epidemiological principles by the health administration reporting the disease in its country and need not correspond to administrative boundaries. It is that part of its territory which, because of population characteristics, density and mobility and/or vector and animal reservoir potential, could support transmission of the reported disease;

infected person means a person who is suffering from a disease subject to the Regulations or who is subsequently shown to have been incubating such a disease;

in flight means the time elapsing between the closing of the doors of the aircraft before take-off and their opening on arrival;

in quarantine means that state or condition during which measures are applied by a health authority to a ship, an aircraft, a train, road vehicle, other means of transport or container, to prevent the spread of disease, reservoirs of disease or vectors of disease from the object of quarantine;

international voyage means-

in the case of a ship or an aircraft, a voyage between ports or airports in the territories of more than one State, or a voyage between ports or airports in the territory, or territories of the same State if the ship or aircraft has relations with the territory of any other State on its voyage but only as regards those relations;

b)	in the case of a person, a voyage involving entry into the territory of a State other than the territory of the State in which that person commences his voyage;

isolation, when applied to a person or group of persons, means the separation of that person or group of persons from other persons, except the health staff on duty, in such a manner as to prevent the spread of infection;

medical examination includes visit to and inspection o a ship, an aircraft, a train, road vehicle, other means of transport, and container, and the preliminary examination of persons, including scrutiny of vaccination certificates, but does not include the periodical inspection of a ship, to ascertain the need for deratting;

Organization means the World Health Organization;

port means a seaport or an inland port;

ship means a seagoing or an inland navigation vessel making an international voyage;

suspect means a person who is considered by the health authority as having been exposed to infection by disease subject to the Regulations and is considered capable of spreading that disease;

transferred case means an infected person whose infection originated in another area under the jurisdiction of the same health administration;

valid certificate, when applied to vaccination, means a certificate conforming with the rules and the model laid down in Appendix 2, 3 or 4.

International Health Regulations Act, 1974 (Act No. 28 of 1974)

International Health Regulations

Part I : Definitions