The Public Health Service Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1944.
[3] This Act provided a legislative basis for the provision of public health services in the United States.
The Public Health Service Act clearly established the federal government's quarantine authority for the first time.
It gave the United States Public Health Service responsibility for preventing the introduction, transmission and spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the United States.
[4] The Public Health Service Act granted the original authority for scientists and special consultants to be appointed "without regard to the civil-service laws", known as a Title 42 appointment.