An American passenger who was aboard a cruise ship that endured a deadly hantavirus outbreak says she is being held in a federal quarantine facility against her will due to a public health battle between the state of Florida and the CDC.
Angela Perryman, 47, says she is seeking to finish her six-week quarantine period, which ends on June 22, in her home state of Florida. She is currently at the National Quarantine Center in Omaha, Nebraska, and has not shown symptoms or tested positive for hantavirus, she said.
“I don’t think there has been a day since I’ve been here that I didn’t cry,” she told NBC News correspondent Maggie Vespa in a TODAY segment aired June 11.
She described the conditions to Vespa as like being in “prison” and “solitary confinement.”
One of her lawyers told Vespa that Florida state officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can’t agree on the conditions of what a quarantine in Florida should be. Perryman’s attorneys are trying to get her released before her six-week quarantine period ends in 11 days but say a resolution before then is unlikely.
“I’m caught in a power struggle between the federal government and the state of Florida, and I’m being held hostage,” Perryman told Vespa.
Perryman said Florida health officials are pushing back against the CDC requirement that states place law enforcement or public health workers outside the homes of those in quarantine and check their temperature twice a day in person.
In a May 28 letter obtained by NBC News from Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph A. Ladapo, he wrote that the 24/7 surveillance and in-person monitoring of a returning quarantine patient is “not necessary.”
Ladapo said in the letter that Florida plans to offer a voluntary quarantine agreement that stipulates in-home isolation without other occupants, daily monitoring via telehealth that includes temperature and symptom checks, and plans for travel and access to any emergency services.
In a statement to NBC News, a Florida Health spokesperson wrote: “Florida remains willing to facilitate the individual’s return and any appropriate public health monitoring consistent with established public health practices. At this time, neither the state of Florida nor the Department is planning to implement round-the-clock surveillance measures.
“Florida’s approach is guided by science, risk assessment and respect for individual liberty. The state does not believe unnecessarily intrusive restrictions are warranted when established public health practices can effectively protect both public health and personal freedom. We remain in communication with federal and local partners regarding travel and public health guidance and will continue working to support a safe and appropriate process moving forward.”
The CDC did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment about Perryman’s story.
Perryman is a retired nature lover and photographer who was aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius, which began its journey on April 1 in Argentina and was struck during the trip by an outbreak of hantavirus that resulted in the deaths of three passengers.
The type of hantavirus involved in the outbreak is the rare Andes strain, which can spread from person to person. Most hantavirus strains usually spread to humans via exposure to rodents.
Eighteen Americans on the cruise ship were flown back to the U.S. from the Canary Islands on May 11 and were quarantined at the facility in Nebraska.
The hantavirus has a six-week incubation period, which is how long officials recommended the passengers be quarantined at the facilities. Last week, the CDC gave passengers the option of finishing their quarantine in their home states.
“When they told me I was here voluntarily, I believed them,” Perryman said. “They insisted up until the day that I asked to leave, it had been completely voluntary, but the moment I said I want to leave, it was no longer voluntary. I feel like I was lied to.”
The CDC has confirmed that eight passengers from the cruise ship have left quarantine facilities so far, returning to New York, California, Arizona and Oregon. These states agreed to accept the passengers and the CDC requirements, NBC News reported.
“Everybody else that’s requested being transferred home has been transferred. I remain here,” Perryman said.
Other passengers, including travel influencer Jake Rosmarin, have voluntarily decided to stay in quarantine.
“I do not want to leave this room until I know I will not get sick,” Rosmarin said in a TikTok video on May 31.
Perryman told Vespa she had rented a private home in Florida through Airbnb to guarantee that she would not be around any other people.
“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,” Perryman said. “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.”