American passenger is angry about hantavirus quarantine order : NPR
NPR • • general
Key Points:
- Angela Perryman and 17 other Americans were flown back to the U.S. after a hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship and placed in the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska under a mandatory quarantine order issued May 18.
- Perryman, who had planned to self-monitor at home in Florida, feels betrayed and imprisoned, as federal officials did not allow her to leave despite her willingness to comply with home quarantine measures.
- This quarantine order is the first mandatory federal quarantine since the COVID-19 pandemic began and only the second in about 50 years, signaling potential future use in controlling outbreaks like the ongoing Ebola crisis.
- Public health law experts are divided, with some supporting the CDC's authority to impose quarantine due to the risk of person-to-person hantavirus transmission, while others argue Perryman's confinement may violate due process without stronger evidence of risk or noncompliance.
- Perryman plans to legally challenge her detention, warning that similar unsupported quarantine orders could threaten the liberty of others in the future.