Health Secretary Orders Quarantine Extension for Hantavirus-Exposed Passenger

U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ordered a passenger exposed to hantavirus to remain in quarantine at a Nebraska facility past the date recommended by medical staff. The passenger, Angela Perryman, 47, was among 18 Americans placed under observation after cases appeared on the MV Hondius cruise ship.

She had sought to return to her home in Florida for the remainder of the 42-day monitoring period.

An HHS official told Reuters that the original 42-day monitoring window ends at midnight on June 21. The remaining passengers are scheduled to leave the Nebraska facility on June 22. The monitoring period began after the passengers returned to the United States on May 10. Eight others completed monitoring earlier and returned to their home states.

HHS spokesperson Courtney Spencer said Secretary Kennedy reviewed medical advice before extending the order. She stated the decision was made in the absence of state monitoring arrangements. Perryman told the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times that Florida authorities declined to provide required monitoring.

She described the order as retaliation for her criticism of the ursprünglichen quarantine measures. The CDC had initially requested observation through May 31 and later indicated in a hearing that Perryman could complete monitoring at home.