Woman exposed to hantavirus wants to go home. RFK Jr. ordered her quarantined against her will ! The Global Privacy Signal that you have set in your device's browser has been recognized. This website uses cookies Through our own and third-party tracking technologies like cookies, pixels, and web beacons, we collect and share with third parties (including advertisers and social media networks) electronic network activity information and personal identifiers (including IP addresses and device identifiers) to allow the website to function, prevent fraud, store your preferences, analyze your usage of the website, personalize your experience, improve our services, measure ad performance, and offer you advertisements that target your particular interests based on your interactions. Our use of certain cookies may be considered a sale or sharing (or processing for targeted advertising) under US state data privacy laws. To opt out of such cookies, please click “Do not sell/share." 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RFK Jr. ordered her quarantined against her will Jun 17, 2026 at 12:03 PM CDT William Jackson (https://san.com/about/team/william-jackson/) • Copy URL (https://san.com/cc/woman-exposed-to-hantavirus-wants-to-go-home-rfk-jr-ordered-her-quarantined-against-her-will/) • Email (mailto:?subject=Woman%20exposed%20to%20hantavirus%20wants%20to%20go%20home.%20RFK%20Jr.%20ordered%20her%20quarantined%20against%20her%20will&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsan.com%2Fcc%2Fwoman-exposed-to-hantavirus-wants-to-go-home-rfk-jr-ordered-her-quarantined-against-her-will%2F) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsan.com%2Fcc%2Fwoman-exposed-to-hantavirus-wants-to-go-home-rfk-jr-ordered-her-quarantined-against-her-will%2F) • Twitter / X (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Woman%20exposed%20to%20hantavirus%20wants%20to%20go%20home.%20RFK%20Jr.%20ordered%20her%20quarantined%20against%20her%20will&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsan.com%2Fcc%2Fwoman-exposed-to-hantavirus-wants-to-go-home-rfk-jr-ordered-her-quarantined-against-her-will%2F) • Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsan.com%2Fcc%2Fwoman-exposed-to-hantavirus-wants-to-go-home-rfk-jr-ordered-her-quarantined-against-her-will%2F&title=Woman%20exposed%20to%20hantavirus%20wants%20to%20go%20home.%20RFK%20Jr.%20ordered%20her%20quarantined%20against%20her%20will) • Image credit: REUTERS/Kylie Cooper Full story A federal quarantine order is putting Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the center of a public health and civil liberties fight. The Wall Street Journal (https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/rfk-jr-orders-american-exposed-to-hantavirus-to-stay-quarantined-against-medical-advice-a6f5b5f2?mod=hp_lista_pos3) reported that Kennedy ordered Florida resident Angela Perryman to remain in federal quarantine in Nebraska after her possible exposure to the Andes strain of hantavirus on a cruise ship. The order came despite a medical review by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC)that recommended Perryman be allowed to finish monitoring at home. Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts™. Point phone camera here Perryman was among the 18 U.S. cruise passengers taken to a Nebraska quarantine unit after possible exposure to the Andes strain, which has a long incubation period. She has said she feels as if she is “in prison (https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/16/health/hantavirus-quarantine-rfk-angela-perryman)” in Nebraska, where she believes she is being used as “a prop and a political stunt.” Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images The case raises a central public health law question: what process and evidence are required before the federal government keeps someone confined against their will after exposure to a dangerous disease? Due process and legal challenges Lawrence Gostin (https://san.com/cc/how-a-changing-cdc-is-handling-the-hantavirus-outbreak/), a Georgetown University public health law expert who helped draft CDC quarantine regulations, told Straight Arrow that Perryman could challenge the order on due process grounds. He said the same official should not both issue a quarantine order and decide whether to uphold it. Breaking: Medical Review overturns CDC Quarantine Order of Angela Perryman, a Hondius passenger exposed to hantavirus. I helped draft CDC's Quarantine Regulations in 2017. The Medical Review offered a measure of due process. Home quarantine is the least restrictive alternative. — Lawrence Gostin (@LawrenceGostin) June 12, 2026 (https://x.com/LawrenceGostin/status/2065449082668155294?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) “Secretary Kennedy issued a quarantine order and then reviewed his own order,” Gostin said. “A political appointee cannot both issue an order and then be the one who affirms it.” He said the CDC reviewer had already recommended that Perryman could finish monitoring outside the Nebraska facility. The administration’s defense The Department of Health and Human Services defended the decision in a statement to Straight Arrow, saying Kennedy reviewed the medical recommendation before continuing the quarantine order. “Secretary Kennedy specifically considered the medical recommendation before deciding to continue the current order consistent with Director [Jay] Bhattacharya,” HHS Spokeswoman Courtney Spencer said, referring to the acting CDC director. “The Andes virus has a 40% case fatality rate – 40 times that of COVID-19 – and a known incubation period of up to 42 days during which anyone exposed to this disease can become symptomatic and transmit it to others.” The administration considered the Nebraska quarantine necessary because proper home monitoring was unavailable. “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 said. Jurisdictional dispute and practical questions An HHS official said other exposed people who returned home for monitoring did so with the cooperation of their state health authorities. The official also said Perryman did not have a home in Florida and had planned to stay in an Airbnb. That explanation leaves a practical question in the legal dispute: whether home quarantine was feasible if Florida would not provide the monitoring HHS sought and Perryman planned to stay in a short-term rental. The Journal reported that the dispute partly turned on Florida’s refusal to follow the federal monitoring plan. Perryman told CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/16/health/hantavirus-quarantine-rfk-angela-perryman) she felt caught between state and federal officials. “At this point, it’s just a state-federal spat, and I’m just a hostage,” Perryman said. Gostin told Straight Arrow that the government must show “clear and convincing evidence” that home quarantine would pose a significant public risk before confining a person in a facility for quarantine. “The secretary overturned the medical review without giving reasons or providing any evidence,” Gostin said. “The medical review was thorough and scientific. It should stand.” Gostin said the disagreement with Florida does not justify keeping Perryman confined. “A person’s liberty should not hinge on a dispute between the federal government and a state,” Gostin said. “That is not her fault.” Political ironies and ‘medical freedom’ The decision also contrasts with Kennedy’s past criticism of pandemic-era restrictions. Kennedy and other health officials in the administration have criticized pandemic-era restrictions, according to the Journal. Gostin said Kennedy’s decision conflicts with his past “medical freedom” messaging. “Kennedy is being hypocritical,” Gostin said. “He has governed under the banner of ‘medical freedom’ yet uses compulsion. He has also criticized the Biden administration for using compulsion during the pandemic. That is exactly what he is doing now.” • Round out your reading • Could a common dietary supplement (https://san.com/cc/could-a-common-dietary-supplement-accelerate-alzheimers?utm_campaign=end_article) accelerate Alzheimer’s? • NY AG Letitia James gets hundreds of taunts, racial slurs in ICE public reporting portal (https://san.com/cc/ny-ag-letitia-james-gets-hundreds-of-taunts-racial-slurs-in-ice-public-reporting-portal?utm_campaign=end_article). • As Musk becomes the first trillionaire (https://san.com/cc/as-musk-becomes-the-first-trillionaire-historian-sees-warning-signs?utm_campaign=end_article), historian sees warning signs. • An experimental weight loss drug is so effective, many Americans don’t care it’s not FDA approved (https://san.com/cc/an-experimental-weight-loss-drug-is-so-effective-many-americans-dont-care-its-not-fda-approved?utm_campaign=end_article). • How search engine optimization reduced Simone Biles (https://san.com/cc/how-search-engine-optimization-reduced-simone-biles-to-an-nfl-wife?utm_campaign=end_article) to an ‘NFL wife’. https://san.com/about/team/william-jackson/ William Jackson (https://san.com/about/team/william-jackson/) William is a producer at Straight Arrow, located in Omaha, Nebraska. • https://x.com/Jacksonwill90 • https://www.linkedin.com/in/wjjackson08 Tags: hantavirus (https://san.com/tags/hantavirus/), Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (https://san.com/tags/robert-f-kennedy-jr/) Share this story • Copy URL (https://san.com/cc/woman-exposed-to-hantavirus-wants-to-go-home-rfk-jr-ordered-her-quarantined-against-her-will/) • Email (mailto:?subject=Woman%20exposed%20to%20hantavirus%20wants%20to%20go%20home.%20RFK%20Jr.%20ordered%20her%20quarantined%20against%20her%20will&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsan.com%2Fcc%2Fwoman-exposed-to-hantavirus-wants-to-go-home-rfk-jr-ordered-her-quarantined-against-her-will%2F) • Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsan.com%2Fcc%2Fwoman-exposed-to-hantavirus-wants-to-go-home-rfk-jr-ordered-her-quarantined-against-her-will%2F) • Twitter / X (https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Woman%20exposed%20to%20hantavirus%20wants%20to%20go%20home.%20RFK%20Jr.%20ordered%20her%20quarantined%20against%20her%20will&url=https%3A%2F%2Fsan.com%2Fcc%2Fwoman-exposed-to-hantavirus-wants-to-go-home-rfk-jr-ordered-her-quarantined-against-her-will%2F) • Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsan.com%2Fcc%2Fwoman-exposed-to-hantavirus-wants-to-go-home-rfk-jr-ordered-her-quarantined-against-her-will%2F&title=Woman%20exposed%20to%20hantavirus%20wants%20to%20go%20home.%20RFK%20Jr.%20ordered%20her%20quarantined%20against%20her%20will) Make SAN preferred on Google (https://google.com/preferences/source?q=san.com) Straight Arrow Fear No Fact.™ Don't just take our word for it. • Certified balanced reporting According to media bias experts at AllSides https://san.com/editorial-mission/ Transparent and credible Awarded a perfect reliability rating from NewsGuard https://san.com/editorial-mission/ • Welcome back to trustworthy journalism. Find out more (https://san.com/editorial-mission/) Why this story matters A federal quarantine order keeping a Florida resident confined in Nebraska against a CDC medical reviewer's recommendation raises concrete questions about the legal process the government must follow before detaining someone after disease exposure. Federal detention without due process According to a public health law expert who helped draft CDC quarantine regulations, the same official cannot both issue and affirm a quarantine order, a procedural standard Perryman's case is said to have violated. CDC review overruled A CDC medical review recommended Perryman be allowed to complete monitoring at home, but HHS says Kennedy reviewed and overrode that recommendation, citing a 40% fatality rate and a 42-day incubation period. State-federal conflict affects individuals Other exposed passengers returned home for monitoring with state cooperation; Perryman remained confined partly because Florida declined to follow the federal monitoring plan, leaving her liberty tied to an intergovernmental dispute. Straight Arrow Fear No Fact.™ Don't just take our word for it. • Certified balanced reporting According to media bias experts at AllSides https://san.com/editorial-mission/ Transparent and credible Awarded a perfect reliability rating from NewsGuard https://san.com/editorial-mission/ • Welcome back to trustworthy journalism. Find out more (https://san.com/editorial-mission/) Trending stories • Politics 2 hrs ago 6m read The leaked Iran plan includes much more than just ending the war (https://san.com/cc/the-leaked-iran-plan-includes-much-more-than-just-ending-the-war/) • Social Issues 4 hrs ago 5m read Companies reduced support for LGBTQ+ in the face of politics, legal issues (https://san.com/cc/companies-reduced-support-for-lgbtq-in-the-face-of-politics-legal-issues/) • Politics 5 hrs ago 2m read Israel launches new strikes in Lebanon despite warning from White House (https://san.com/cc/israel-launches-new-strikes-in-lebanon-despite-trumps-warning/) • Politics 6 hrs ago 10m read Georgia voters split on Trump picks; Bystanders help survivors after Texas jet crash (https://san.com/cc/georgia-voters-split-on-trump-picks-bystanders-help-survivors-after-texas-jet-crash/) Sources 1. The Wall Street Journal (https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/rfk-jr-orders-american-exposed-to-hantavirus-to-stay-quarantined-against-medical-advice-a6f5b5f2?mod=hp_lista_pos3) 2. CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/16/health/hantavirus-quarantine-rfk-angela-perryman) 3. Lawrence Gostin, Georgetown University professor 4. Courtney Spencer, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Sources 1. The Wall Street Journal (https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/rfk-jr-orders-american-exposed-to-hantavirus-to-stay-quarantined-against-medical-advice-a6f5b5f2?mod=hp_lista_pos3) 2. CNN (https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/16/health/hantavirus-quarantine-rfk-angela-perryman) 3. Lawrence Gostin, Georgetown University professor 4. 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