U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered Angela Perryman to remain in quarantine after exposure to hantavirus on a cruise ship, even as medical officials and a CDC review indicated she could return home under certain monitoring conditions. The decis
By midnight on June 21, Angela Perryman’s 42-day watch over a hantavirus exposure was supposed to end. Instead, the order keeping her in quarantine continued—despite medical guidance and her wishes to go home.
Perryman, 47, is one of 18 Americans quarantined in the U.S. after Andes hantavirus cases were found aboard a cruise ship earlier this year. The group was initially placed at a Nebraska quarantine unit, according to reporting that traced the timeline of monitoring and the hospital follow-ups.
A Health Department official told Reuters that June 21 at midnight would mark the end of the 42-day monitoring period. The remaining passengers at the quarantine unit would leave Nebraska on June 22, the official added. Reuters was unable to reach Perryman by phone at the facility.
The monitoring window began after the group returned to the United States on May 10. Separately, the University of Nebraska Medical Center said earlier this month that eight U.S. residents who were on the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius had returned to their home states following three weeks of monitoring at the National Quarantine Unit. Ten others remained under observation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had requested the individuals from the cruise ship remain at the quarantine unit through May 31.
Perryman’s conflict centers on what happens after that—where quarantine can end and who must be responsible for oversight. The New York Times reported that some passengers were allowed to quarantine at home until June 22. which would be 42 days after arriving at the Nebraska facility. if local health officials committed to having a law enforcement or community health worker monitor them.
In response to Reuters. HHS spokesperson Courtney Spencer said Secretary Kennedy considered the medical recommendation before deciding to continue the current order. adding that the decision was consistent with National Institutes of Health director Jay Bhattacharya. Spencer said the quarantine order remained necessary because. in her view. there was no proper home monitoring by state authorities—citing both Perryman’s wellbeing and that of her community.
Perryman has disputed the premise. She told the Wall Street Journal she believes Kennedy’s order is retaliation for speaking out against the quarantine measures. She told the Times: “I think this is obvious malice and retaliation.”
Her plan was straightforward: Perryman said she wanted to go to her home in Florida, but the state refused to provide the monitoring required under the conditions described in the Times’ reporting.
The Times reported that in a CDC quarantine hearing, the CDC said she should be able to return home for the remainder of the quarantine. The Journal reported that a CDC medical review found the chances of her developing symptoms were decreasing with time.
Perryman also described how the order was delivered. She told the Journal and the Times that a copy of an order from Kennedy was slipped under the door to her room informing her she could not return home.
Kennedy’s order, the Journal reported, said that despite the doctor’s report, Perryman was reasonably believed to be infected with or exposed to the disease.
The World Health Organization recommends monitoring and quarantining high-risk contacts for 42 days after exposure. For Perryman, the numbers are exact. The dispute is about authority and oversight once that clock starts to run out—who gets to leave. and who gets to decide what “monitoring” should look like when a person is waiting to go home.
hantavirus quarantine Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Angela Perryman CDC Nebraska Florida HHS MV Hondius Andes hantavirus public health monitoring