SouthernWorldwide.com – An American woman claims she is being held against her will in a federal quarantine facility in Omaha, Nebraska, after a potential hantavirus exposure on a cruise ship.
Angela Perryman, 47, was initially expecting a brief quarantine period after her arrival last week. However, on Monday, she received a federal order extending her mandatory isolation for at least two more weeks, as reported to The New York Times.
The order stipulates that Perryman must remain at the facility until May 31, totaling 21 days from her arrival. She stated that officials warned her of potential law enforcement intervention if she attempted to leave.
“They won’t let us isolate at home,” Perryman, who resides in Ecuador but also has a home in South Florida, explained to the news outlet. “We’re being kept in a secured facility and threatened if we try to leave.”
Perryman revealed that she has tested negative for hantavirus and is not exhibiting any symptoms. She did, however, have a brief interaction with a passenger who subsequently died from the disease.
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According to the federal order shared with The Times, Perryman leaving the facility to travel to another state “could constitute a probable source of infection to other people.”
After a medical review within 72 hours, Perryman was informed of her right to appeal the order. She has indicated to The Times her intention to pursue legal action.
The quarantine unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Global Center for Health Security is equipped with 20 single-occupancy rooms. These rooms feature negative air pressure systems, private bathrooms, exercise equipment, and Wi-Fi access, according to the center’s website.
The quarantine order, issued under federal public health authority, was reportedly authorized by Jay Bhattacharya, the acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In total, 18 American passengers from the MV Hondius have been under observation at the quarantine unit since last week, including Perryman.
An additional seven passengers who had already left the ship and returned to their homes before the outbreak was identified are being monitored by their respective state and local health departments, as confirmed by the CDC.
While hantavirus does not spread as easily as COVID-19, public health officials are exercising extreme caution due to the rare possibility of person-to-person transmission with the Andes strain, a CDC official noted.
The World Health Organization has reported that at least three individuals connected to the outbreak on the ship have died, with several other passengers falling ill.
The federal government’s last large-scale quarantine order was implemented in January 2020. At that time, nearly 200 Americans evacuated from Wuhan, China, the initial epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, were required to isolate for two weeks at the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, according to the CDC.
“Typically, we don’t hold people against their will unless there is no alternative,” Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the pandemic center at Brown University’s School of Public Health, commented to The Times.
