Final answer:
Health departments can incarcerate individuals with highly contagious diseases to prevent disease spread, especially when isolation fails and there's a significant public health risk.
Step-by-step explanation:
The health department can incarcerate patients with a) highly contagious diseases to prevent the spread of disease. Ideally, health officials aim to isolate individuals with infectious diseases. However, if an individual is noncompliant and poses a significant health threat to the public, incarceration can be used as a last resort. This intervention is strictly used for communicable diseases that can be easily transmitted from person to person and not for non-communicable diseases, chronic illnesses, or mental health conditions. This is considered a last resort and is done when the patient is noncompliant with isolation measures. Examples of highly contagious diseases include COVID-19, tuberculosis, and measles.