The separation of sick people or animals with a contagious disease from people or animals that are not sick is the practice of:

• A. Isolation
• B. Quarantine
• C. Social distancing
• D. Containment

Answer: (A)

Isolating individuals who are sick or contagious is done to prevent transmission by removing the infection source from others. This applies to people or animals known to be infected, placing them in separate spaces and using precautions to minimize contact and exposure. Quarantine, by contrast, is for those who may have been exposed but are not yet ill, kept apart during the incubation period to see if they develop disease. Social distancing is a broader public-health measure aimed at reducing close contact across a population, not specifically separating known sick individuals. Containment is a wider term that includes various actions to prevent spread, with isolation being the specific practice of separating the sick from the healthy.