Angela Perryman, 47, is one of the 18 American passengers on the ship who HHS announced on May 11 had returned to the country
NEED TO KNOW
- Angela Perryman is one of eight passengers still quarantined after potential hantavirus exposure on a cruise ship
- Perryman claimed she is “caught in a power struggle” between federal health officials and the state of Florida
- The CDC said quarantined passengers are symptom-free, but Perryman said she remains under federal quarantine orders despite her objections
A 47-year-old woman who was exposed to hantavirus on the MV Hondius cruise ship is fighting to finish her six-week quarantine period at home.
Angela Perryman is one of the 18 American passengers on the ship whom the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced on May 11 had returned to the country.
At the time, health officials said 16 of the passengers were taken into quarantine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Neb., while two others were sent to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.
Multiple passengers have since left the unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention allowed them to complete their quarantine at home on May 31.
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As of June 12, eight of the passengers remain in Omaha for monitoring, including Perryman, according to a University of Nebraska Medical Center press release.
Despite her interest in leaving, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signed an order on June 15 to keep Perryman in quarantine, according to The New York Times.
Kennedy reportedly signed the order because "the evidence demonstrates that Ms. Perryman remains reasonably believed to be infected," per a copy of the order obtained by Inside Medicine.
During a hearing on June 11, Dr. Michael Bell, the CDC's quarantine medical reviewer, recommended that Perryman, a Florida native, be allowed to return home for the remainder of her six-week quarantine, with "remote symptom monitoring once daily and access to 24-hour help 'in the event she develops symptoms,' " according to the Times.
The CDC confirmed on its website that the eight people still quarantined "remain symptom-free and have met the criteria established by public health officials to safely continue monitoring at home."
Perryman, however, recently told Today that she believes she is "caught in a power struggle between the federal government and the state of Florida."
"I'm being held hostage," said Perryman.
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Brian Wright, a spokesman for the Florida Health Department, said that "At this time, neither the state of Florida nor the Department is planning to implement round-the-clock surveillance measures," NBC News reported.
“The state does not believe unnecessarily intrusive restrictions are warranted when established public health practices can effectively protect both public health and personal freedom," his statement continued.
Perryman told Today that she felt like she had been "lied to" after being told that she was quarantined "voluntarily" and said she would take precautions if allowed to go home.
“I would not leave my house, even if I felt fine, much less if I thought I had the flu, which is known to be the early symptoms of this,” she told the outlet. “If I am alone in a house, there is absolutely no way that somebody else can get this, so there is no danger to the broader level. There is no reason to be afraid."
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PEOPLE has reached out to the Florida Health Department, the Department of Health & Human Services and the CDC for comment.
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