June 16 – US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. ordered an American passenger exposed to the Hantavirus on a cruise ship to remain in quarantine despite medical advice and against her will, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The passenger, Angela Perryman, 47, was one of 18 Americans quarantined in the United States after Hantavirus cases were discovered in the Andes on a cruise ship earlier this year. The group was initially placed in a quarantine unit in Nebraska.
A Department of Health and Human Services official told Reuters that midnight on June 21 will mark the end of the 42-day monitoring period.
Reuters was unable to reach Perryman at the facility by phone.
According to the official, the remaining passengers in the quarantine unit will leave Nebraska on June 22. The official added that the 42-day period began after their return to the United States on May 10.
The University of Nebraska Medical Center said earlier this month that eight U.S. residents who were on board the Hantavirus-infected MV Hondius returned to their home states after three weeks of observation in a national quarantine unit. Ten others remained under surveillance.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has required cruise ship personnel to remain in a quarantine unit until May 31.
Quarantine conditions are the issue
The New York Times recently reported that some passengers were allowed to quarantine at home until June 22 — 42 days after their arrival at the Nebraska facility — on the condition that local health officials commit to being monitored by a law enforcement or community health worker.
The World Health Organization recommends monitoring and quarantining high-risk contacts for 42 days after exposure.
The Wall Street Journal and Times reported that Perryman wanted to go to her home in Florida, but the state refused to provide monitoring.
The CDC, at a quarantine hearing, said she should be able to return home for the remainder of the quarantine, the Times added. The magazine reported that the medical review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the chances of her symptoms appearing decrease over time.
Berryman told the newspaper and the Times that a copy of Kennedy’s order was placed under her bedroom door informing her that she could not return home.
Kennedy’s order said that despite the doctor’s report, Perryman was reasonably believed to have the disease or be susceptible to it, according to the magazine.
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