The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897

The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, aims to provide for the prevention of the spread of ‘Dangerous Epidemic Diseases’. This 773-word legislation was adopted when India was under British rule, in order to contain a bubonic plague outbreak in Bombay Presidency.The World Health Organization defines an ‘epidemic’ as the occurrence of cases of a specific illness, health-related behaviour or other health-related events in a community or region, which is clearly in excess of what would be normally expected.The Act extends to the whole of India.