§ 101310 Emergency Health Officer Authority

• •A health emergency can be declared by the board of supervisors or the county health officer.
• •When that happens, the local health officer gets supervision and control over all environmental health and sanitation programs.
• •The local health officer also controls the county staff who work on those programs for the whole emergency period.

A county declares a health emergency because a contagious disease is spreading, and the local health officer now directs the water testing team, food inspectors, and trash collectors.

Because the emergency was declared, the local health officer can tell those workers what to do and how to run their programs until the emergency ends.