In the case of people, quarantine usually raises questions of civil rights, especially in cases of long confinement or segregation from society. The first astronauts to visit the Moon were quarantined upon their return at a specially built Lunar Receiving Laboratory.

Some quarantine periods can be very short, such as in the case of a suspected anthrax attack, in which persons are allowed to leave as soon as they shed their potentially contaminated garments and undergo a decontamination shower. The purpose of such quarantine-for-decontamination is to prevent the spread of contamination, and to contain the contamination such that others are not put at risk from a person fleeing a scene where contamination is suspect.