Quarantine

Ruth Blumka, 74, a prominent dealer in medieval and Renaissance art and a donor of artworks to museums around the country, died Monday at New York University Hospital of complications from ovarian cancer.John Kappers, 36, an AIDS activist who became the first person in Georgia to be quarantined because of a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis, died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome Tuesday in Atlanta. He was a registered nurse who was placed under involuntary quarantine in his home by DeKalb County health officials on April 11. The two-month quarantine sparked criticism from AIDS activists and others who contended the confinement was unnecessary.

ISSUE: State officials plan to study the viability of locating a national animal quarantine facility at Fort Meade's shuttered equestrian center to serve the Mid-Atlantic region's bustling horse breeding industry. Legislation submitted last week on behalf of the state Department of Agriculture asks the Anne Arundel County Council to endorse state funding for a $60,000 study, which would explore creating what would be the fourth such facility in the country. The others are in Newburgh, N.Y., Miami and Los Angeles.

Baltimore public schools will be closed today in observance of the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. They will reopen tomorrow. Collection of mixed refuse/recyclables and Clean Sweep operations will not occur in Baltimore today. Quarantine Road Landfill and Northwest Transfer Station also will be closed. Recyclables will be picked up and Clean Sweep operations will take place Saturday. Parking meters must be fed today.Pub Date: 1/15/97

A stamp honoring Richard Nixon shows there is hope for us all.New York City police ought to stick to wrecking New York hotels and leave Washington hotels to the mayor and police of that city.Bill dared Republicans to come up with a balancing budget. They did. Serves him right. Rough on the rest of us.Zaire's quarantine will kill more people in Kikwit than the Ebola virus.

In observance of the birthday of Abraham Lincoln tomorrow, the Department of Public Works will be closed and there will be no collection of trash, recyclables or bulk items in the city. The Quarantine Road Landfill and the Northwest Transfer Station will be closed. Public works officials ask that residents not put trash or recyclables out until Thursday, the next regularly scheduled collection day. Bulk trash pickups scheduled for Monday will take place Saturday. Residents must call 410-361-9333 at least three workdays in advance to schedule bulk pickups.

25 years ago (week of Oct. 10-16, 1971):Columbia residents and merchants are concerned about the number of commercial vacancies in the town's village centers. Most of the vacancies are due to shops having moved to the Mall in Columbia.50 years ago (week of Oct. 6-12, 1946):Dog owners in the Second District were reminded to observe the dog quarantine which had been put in place after several cases of rabies were discovered. Dogs had to be kept on a leash when on a street or road, and were not allowed to run free when not supervised by their owners.

Lexington, Ky. -- Heading the list of questions facing the Maryland horse racing industry is the doomsday one: Could the equine herpes outbreak linger long enough to affect Pimlico Race Course's spring meeting, which includes the Preakness? Then there are the other questions. How long will the horses at Pimlico be under quarantine? How many might die? How adversely will the current Laurel Park meeting be affected? Veterinarians and racing officials in Kentucky, America's premier racing state, don't claim to have answers to all questions, especially the last one. But having dealt with two herpes outbreaks in the past nine months, including one still active at Turfway Park in Florence, they say there's no reason to panic as long as veterinarians and those who work with the horses are taking proper precautions.

William Sinkabine Miller, a retired medical research scientist who helped run the 1969 Apollo 11 lunar mission's post-flight quarantine lab, died of cancer Sunday at the Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. The Timonium resident was 80. Born in Berryville, Va., he earned a bachelor's degree in microbiology at the University of Maryland, College Park and a doctorate from George Washington University. He studied at the Harvard Business School and served in the Air Force in Japan. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Dr. Miller worked in military biological testing at Fort Detrick in Frederick.