A cruise ship passenger exposed to Andes hantavirus has been ordered to remain in a secure quarantine facility in Nebraska by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., overriding the conclusion of an HHS-appointed medical reviewer who found she could safely finish her isolation at home in Florida.
The case has drawn sharp criticism from public health and legal experts, who say Kennedy’s decision subverts both scientific judgment and due process. “It’s not science, it’s coercion,” health experts told The Guardian in an article published June 20 by reporter Melody Schreiber.
Angela Perryman was one of 18 U.S. passengers from the M/V Hondius, a cruise ship that experienced a rare outbreak of Andes hantavirus in the Atlantic Ocean in May. The outbreak, first reported on May 2, resulted in 13 confirmed Andes virus cases and three deaths among roughly 150 passengers and crew aboard the ship. Eighteen Americans were repatriated to the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for a 42-day public health monitoring period.
Andes virus is a type of hantavirus that causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, a severe and potentially fatal respiratory disease. Unlike most hantaviruses, which are transmitted solely through rodent droppings and urine, Andes virus is the only hantavirus known to be capable of limited person-to-person transmission, though the CDC describes this as “relatively rare and generally associated with prolonged close contact” with a symptomatic individual. As of June 18, all 18 passengers in Nebraska remained symptom-free.
Most passengers were eventually allowed to return home to complete their monitoring period under supervision by state and local health departments. As of June 1, 13 remained in the Nebraska facility; by June 16, only Perryman and a small number of others were still there.
The medical review
Under federal quarantine regulations, passengers can request a medical review of the necessity of their detention. Perryman did so, and on June 11, HHS-appointed physician Dr. Michael Bell, director of the CDC Division of Healthcare Quality and Promotion, who had no prior involvement in the case, issued his report.
Bell concluded that “less restrictive alternatives would adequately serve to protect public health.” He noted that Florida’s proposed monitoring plan, once-daily telehealth check-ins, remote temperature checks, symptom assessments, and a pre-arranged hospital transfer plan, was “reasonable and efficient” and consistent with the established risk profile of Andes virus.
The disagreement between the CDC and Florida over the appropriate level of monitoring formed the central dispute. In a May 28 letter, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo told the CDC incident manager that the state was willing to supervise quarantine but refused to implement the 24-hour continuous surveillance that federal officials had initially demanded.
The override
On June 16, Kennedy signed a one-paragraph order stating that “requirements for federal quarantine continue to be met.” It provided no specific reasoning or response to Bell’s medical findings. Perryman was ordered to remain in the Nebraska facility through June 21, the end of the 42-day period.
Perryman told Healthbeat, which first reported the story, that she believes the process has been run deliberately to exhaust her legal options. “They’ve managed to run the clock down and deny me my Fifth Amendment rights,” she said. “A non-physician just overrode the physician medical reviewer.”
HHS officials initially did not respond to questions about the contradiction with the medical review. After the Healthbeat report was published, an HHS statement defended the order as necessary because “in the absence of proper home monitoring by state authorities, the Administration’s quarantine order is necessary.”
Expert reactions
Lawrence Gostin, a global health law expert at Georgetown University, called the decision “a shocking disregard for both science and personal freedom” and “a flagrant violation of due process” that should be immediately challenged in court.
Melody Schreiber’s Guardian article, published June 20, captured the broader sentiment among public health experts: the decision represents a pattern in which political authority is used to override independent scientific judgment within the federal health apparatus. Several experts declined to comment on the record, citing fear of retaliation from HHS leadership.
The broader context
The case sits at the intersection of two ongoing controversies. The first concerns the legal basis for the quarantine itself: hantavirus is not on the CDC’s list of quarantinable diseases, which is defined by presidential executive order. Federal officials have instead relied on a novel legal argument, that Andes virus qualifies as a “severe acute respiratory syndrome,” a category that does appear on the list. Public health law experts have questioned whether this approach would survive a legal challenge.
The second is Kennedy’s tenure as HHS Secretary. Since taking office in 2025, Kennedy has repeatedly challenged established public health orthodoxy, including childhood vaccine recommendations, fluoride in drinking water, and FDA drug approval processes. Critics say his leadership has eroded trust in federal health agencies; supporters say he is bringing needed scrutiny to entrenched systems.
The hantavirus quarantine order may be the most concrete example yet of Kennedy personally intervening to overrule a scientific recommendation from within HHS. As Perryman’s quarantine period nears its June 21 expiration, the question of whether the courts will weigh in on the underlying legal and procedural questions remains open.
Sources:
- The Guardian: “‘It’s not science, it’s coercion’: health experts decry RFK Jr order on hantavirus quarantine” (20 June 2026). Link
- Healthbeat: “RFK Jr. orders hantavirus cruise passenger to remain in secure facility, overrules federal medical review” (16 June 2026). Link
- AP News: “RFK Jr. overrules experts to keep hantavirus cruise ship passenger in quarantine” (17 June 2026). Link
- CDC: “Andes Virus Outbreak on a Cruise Ship: Current Situation” (updated 18 June 2026). Link