Hantavirus cruise passenger claims 'hostage' situation in Nebraska quarantine amid CDC-Florida dispute

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A woman who has spent weeks at the National Quarantine Unit in Nebraska after disembarking from a cruise ship affected by hantavirus says she wants to complete her 42-day quarantine at home in Florida. Instead, she claims she is being held against her will due to a disagreement between state health officials and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Timeline

June 11, 2025

Angela Perryman, 47, told NBC News that federal and state health officials cannot agree on the quarantine conditions she would be required to follow for her final 11 days of isolation if allowed to return home. She described being held "hostage" at the quarantine center, which she called a "prison," adding, "I don't think there has been a day since I’ve been here that I didn’t cry."

If she returns home, the CDC requires Perryman to be under 24/7 surveillance by a public health official—a condition other states have accepted. However, the Florida surgeon general reportedly told the federal agency it would only enforce a "voluntary" quarantine agreement and that stricter supervision was "not necessary."

May 29, 2026

Americans quarantining in Nebraska for weeks after exposure to a contagious and deadly strain of hantavirus say the government has offered them a deal: they may complete their final three weeks of quarantine at home, provided their states agree to post a police officer or health worker outside their homes 24 hours a day to ensure compliance.

May 28, 2026

A total of 1,400 tablets of an experimental treatment called favipiravir were reportedly made available to EU member states by Fujifilm Pharmaceuticals in Japan. Individual countries will decide on a case-by-case basis whether to use the medicine, which has not been approved by the European Medicines Agency.

May 25, 2026

A Spanish citizen evacuated from the MV Hondius and quarantined at a hospital in Madrid as a precaution tested positive for the virus weeks after leaving the ship. The patient has been moved to a high-level isolation unit at the same hospital.

May 20, 2026

Ship operator Oceanwide Expeditions announced that the MV Hondius will depart for its next trip, carrying passengers around the Svalbard islands near the North Pole for seven days, starting June 13.

May 18, 2026

Oceanwide Expeditions announced that two scheduled voyages for the MV Hondius have been canceled. However, pending successful cleaning, the ship will resume its charters with the Svalbard trip in June as currently scheduled.

World Health Organization Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that the risk of hantavirus to the general population remains "low" and that "there is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak."

The MV Hondius arrived in the Netherlands carrying 25 crew members and two medical professionals, none of whom are showing symptoms of the Andes strain of hantavirus. The ship will be disinfected using chlorine and peroxide over the next week, and crew members—most of whom are from the Philippines—will enter immediate quarantine.

Researchers with the WHO and World Bank warned that the world is not prepared for the next inevitable pandemic, noting that global health research, prevention, and preparedness have not kept pace with the increasing frequency and intensity of infectious disease epidemics.

May 14, 2026

More than 40 people are being monitored in the United States, but there are no confirmed cases, according to CNBC.

Oregon Dr. Stephen Kornfeld, who reportedly helped care for hantavirus-stricken patients aboard the ship before testing positive himself, was allowed to join fellow passengers in isolation at the National Quarantine Unit after testing negative for hantavirus at least twice and remaining asymptomatic.

Health officials in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay are pointing fingers at one another and attempting to clear their countries from suspicion of being the outbreak's origin, according to the New York Times.