When a pestilence or contagious disease breaks out in or near a jail, and the physician thereof certifies that it is liable to endanger the health of the prisoners, the county judge may, by a written appointment, designate a safe and convenient place in the county, or the jail in a contiguous county, as the place of their confinement. The appointment must be filed in the office of the clerk of the court, and authorize the sheriff to remove the prisoners to the place or jail designated, and there confine them until they can be safely returned to the jail from which they were taken.