90-Second Read: RFK Jr. overrules experts to keep Hantavirus cruise ship passenger in quarantine

Perryman was a passenger on a cruise ship traveling in the South Atlantic which became the setting of an unusual Hantavirus outbreak that killed three. Hantaviruses usually spread when people inhale contaminated residue of rodent droppings, but the Hantavirus that caused the outbreak, called the Andes virus, may be able to spread between people in rare cases. Perryman and one other passenger then received orders from US health officials requiring them to quarantine at the facility until May 31. A public health law expert who helped shape current federal quarantine regulations, called the decision "an egregious violation" of a US citizen's rights.

About two dozen Americans were on the ship, including Perryman and 17 others who were evacuated to the Nebraska quarantine unit on May 11. Because symptoms of Hantavirus have taken as long as 42 days to appear in previous outbreaks, the 18 were to be monitored for the development of symptoms until the end of the day on Sunday, June 21. At his urging, and at the urging of the facility's medical director, she agreed to stay until May 22 to protect public health because some medical experts say most people who develop symptoms do so within the first three weeks. The Andes virus has a 40 percent 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 order from Kennedy, one of the nation's most prominent critics of vaccine mandates, lockdowns and other government public health restrictions, spurred outrage from some advocates and legal scholars, who called it illegal and rooted in politics rather than public health. But then, on Monday, Kennedy signed the order anyway, which said "continuation of the order is necessary to protect public health," without explaining in what way he still considered Perryman to be a health threat. Quarantine orders, which can be enforced with fines and prison time, are a rare legal step that can be taken if someone objects to a public health request. At the beginning of the pandemic, Kennedy raised concerns about governments imposing mass quarantines, saying in an interview for his former organization Children's Health Defense that "quarantine kills people too" and that the costs of lockdowns should be debated.

Bell reviewed testimony from CDC officials and an outside medical expert concerning Perryman's challenge to an earlier order confining her to the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Experts at the meeting agreed that Florida's proposal was reasonable and the federal requirements were unnecessary. Bell noted that a reason Perryman wasn't being allowed to return to Florida was because federal officials insisted that anyone returning to their home had to undergo daily in-person monitoring and to be under round-the-clock surveillance by local law or public officials.