Utilitarian and Deontological Ethics and Ebola QuarantineRecently, there has been a large outbreak of the hemorrhagic Ebola virus in West Africa, causing widespread suffering and death in the region. Indeed, many humanitarian missions have been deemed necessary to help countries treat patients suffering from the virus, as well as to prevent the expansion of the epidemic. Unfortunately, some medical personnel who participated in humanitarian missions returned to their own countries only to catch the virus a few days later. As a result, some U.S. states have implemented a mandatory 21-day quarantine for anyone returning from West Africa who has cared for someone infected with Ebola. This quarantine was imposed on Kaci Hickox, a nurse, who was taken directly from the airport to a hospital and detained for days after informing authorities of her work abroad and after having a high temperature after was questioned for several hours. The question in this case is whether it is ethically right to impose mandatory quarantine on aid workers. By applying both utilitarian and deontological rationale, we can understand the perspective used to justify quarantine or reject it. Utilitarian ethical theory and deontological ethical theory are both normative but completely opposite theories. Utilitarian ethical theory focuses on the outcome of a decision or action rather than whether the action is right or wrong in the first place. On the other hand, deontological ethical theory focuses on whether the initial action of the decision is right or wrong, regardless of the outcome or consequences. With this in mind, both theories have several arguments that could justify quarantine or reject it. Using the util...... middle of paper ...... perspective is applied, the outcome could be positive in preventing the spread of disease in America, or negative, causing a global pandemic. The deontological perspective flatly rejects mandatory quarantine because it takes away the rights of individuals. The most compelling theory is the deontology theory, it completely ignores the argument for quarantine and could actually implement Americans' rights in the future. A better solution than a mandatory 21-day quarantine would be to ask humanitarians to do regular self-examinations and try to have as little contact as possible during the first eight to ten days returning from Africa. West. This is the average time it takes for the virus to manifest itself. After that, self-exams still need to be carried out until the end of the 21-year period, but minimal contact is not necessary..