Kennedy orders American exposed to hantavirus to stay quarantined against her will, WSJ reports

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June 16 (Reuters) - U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has ordered an American passenger exposed to 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 U.S. after Andes hantavirus cases were found aboard a cruise ship earlier this year. The group had initially been placed ​at a Nebraska quarantine unit.

An official with the Department of Health and Human Services told Reuters that June 21 midnight would 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 at the quarantine unit will leave Nebraska on June 22. The 42-day period began ‌following their return to the United States ⁠on May 10, the official added.

Eight U.S. residents who were on the hantavirus-hit MV Hondius returned to their home states following three weeks of monitoring at the National Quarantine Unit, ⁠the University of Nebraska Medical Center said earlier this month. Ten others remained under observation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had requested that the individuals from the cruise ship remain at the quarantine unit through May 31.

QUARANTINE TERMS AT ISSUE

The ​New ​York Times recently reported that some passengers were allowed to ​quarantine at home until June 22 — 42 days ‌after arriving at the Nebraska facility — provided local health officials committed to having a law enforcement or community health worker monitor them.

"Secretary Kennedy specifically considered the medical recommendation before deciding to continue the current order consistent with director Bhattacharya," HHS spokesperson Courtney Spencer told Reuters.

"In the absence of proper home monitoring by state authorities, the administration's quarantine order is necessary to ensure both Ms. Perryman's and her community's wellbeing," Spencer added.

The WHO recommends monitoring and quarantining ‌high-risk contacts for 42 days after exposure.

Perryman wished to go to ​her home in Florida, but the state refused to provide the ​monitoring, the Wall Street Journal and the Times ​reported.

The Times added that the CDC, in a quarantine hearing, said she should be able ‌to return home for the remainder of the ​quarantine. The Journal reported that ​a CDC medical review said the chances of her developing symptoms were decreasing with time.

Perryman told the Journal and the Times that a copy of an order from Kennedy was slipped under the door to ​her room informing her that she ‌could not return home.

Kennedy's order said despite the doctor's report, Perryman was reasonably believed to be infected ​with or exposed to the disease, according to the Journal.

(Reporting by Sneha S K in ​Bengaluru; editing by Caroline Humer, Joyjeet Das and Diti Pujara)

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