An air carrier Captain reported a verbal clash between bio-hazard personnel in ZSPD and flight attendants who had been exposed to a young man who was being quarantined due to the possibility he may have an infectious disease.

Narrative

We blocked in at ZSPD. The biohazard guys came on and found that a young boy had a temperature of 38.7; 38 being normal. They decided to quarantine him; his row; the rows in front and back of him; and something like 6 flight attendants; who had served him. One of them told a language speaker that a doctor was coming and would check him on board. After about 20 minutes; the station manager finally showed up and said that to protect their departure on the 13th; the Chinese authorities would accept just one Flight Attendant. She didn't want to speak to me; and tried to ignore me; but I got involved in the conversation and asked where the doctor was; since this boy was only a fraction of a degree above normal; which may be normal for him. She didn't have a clue; and suddenly didn't seem to understand English anymore. The purser and I asked her how they were going to determine which Flight Attendant would be quarantined. She said we should choose. We both said we would not do that; that we had no right to order someone to go into quarantine. She said then she would choose. When I asked her what she would do when that person refused; she again didn't understand English. I guess she's not used to people not obeying her. Finally; the Purser said he would stay. I applaud him for doing that; but what makes this even more bizarre is that he never came into contact with the boy. I asked that station manager why not just send a customer service agent to go with the quarantined people; since they are local and speak the language. She didn't seem to understand my question...again. Now here's the safety issue: One of our crew members; who was completely healthy; was forced to go to a non-western hotel; where sick people were being held in quarantine; and given no bottled water (only purification tablets to use with tap water). What if he now gets sick?