Kennedy orders American exposed to hantavirus to stay quarantined against her will, WSJ reports
June 16 (Reuters) – U.S. Surgeon General Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered an American passenger exposed to hantavirus on a cruise ship to remain in quarantine against medical advice and against his own will, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
Passenger Angela Perryman, 47, was one of 18 Americans quarantined in the United States after cases of hantavirus were found on a cruise ship in the Andes earlier this year. The group was initially placed in the Nebraska quarantine unit.
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 could not reach Perryman by phone at the facility.
Passengers remaining in the quarantine unit will depart Nebraska on June 22, according to the official. The 42-day period began upon their return to the United States on May 10, the official added.
Eight U.S. residents aboard the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius returned to their home states after three weeks of monitoring at the National Quarantine Unit, the University of Nebraska Medical Center said earlier this month. Ten more people remained under observation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had requested that people on the cruise ship remain in the quarantine unit until May 31.
CURRENT QUARANTINE CONDITIONS
The New York Times recently reported that some travelers were allowed to quarantine at home after arriving at the Nebraska facility until June 22 — 42 days — as long as local health officials committed to having a law enforcement or community health worker monitor them.
“Secretary Kennedy specifically considered medical advice before deciding to maintain the current order consistent with Director Bhattacharya,” HHS spokeswoman Courtney Spencer told Reuters. he said.
“In the absence of proper inspection of homes by state officials, the administration’s quarantine order is necessary to ensure the well-being of both Ms. Perryman and her community,” Spencer added.
WHO recommends that high-risk contacts be monitored and quarantined for 42 days after exposure.
Perryman wanted to go home to Florida, but the state refused to provide supervision, the Wall Street Journal and Times reported.
The Times added that the CDC said at the quarantine hearing that he should be able to return home for the remainder of the quarantine. The Journal reported that a CDC medical review said the chances of developing symptoms decrease over time.
Perryman told the Journal and Times that a copy of an order was slipped under the door of Kennedy’s office informing him that he “could not return home.”
Kennedy’s order stated that Perryman was reasonably believed to have contracted or been exposed to the disease, despite a doctor’s report, according to the Journal.
(Reporting by Sneha SK in Bengaluru; Editing by Caroline Humer, Joyjeet Das and Diti Pujara)
