The Trump administration has implemented stringent public health measures in response to recent outbreaks of hantavirus and Ebola, a sharp departure from its previous criticisms of COVID-19 restrictions. The actions include mandatory federal quarantine orders for two American passengers from a hantavirus-stricken cruise ship, round-the-clock monitoring for some quarantining at home, a ban on travelers from Ebola-affected countries, and a policy preventing U.S.
citizens infected with Ebola from returning home for treatment.
Critics, including Dr. Ashish Jha, a Harvard senior fellow and former Biden COVID-19 response coordinator, point out the inconsistency.
"They have spent so much time talking about not having the government impose on people's individual decisions and movement, touted individual choice over public health, and argued that individual freedom trumps public health guidance," Jha said. "And yet, in response to the hantavirus and Ebola, this administration has chosen to impose very draconian and extreme public health measures."
The administration defends the steps as necessary to protect the American public, but public health experts like James Hodge of Arizona State University call them an overreaction. "It's very concerning about what overreaction we may see," Hodge said.
"How far will this government go to contain an outbreak?" The measures are particularly surprising given the administration's frequent references to "health freedom" and its push to leave medical decisions to individuals.
The first controversy involved passengers from a Dutch cruise ship hit by hantavirus, which killed three people. Initially, passengers flown to a federally funded quarantine unit in Omaha, Nebraska, were there voluntarily.
However, the administration then imposed mandatory federal quarantine orders on two passengers who wanted to quarantine at home, a rare step that Hodge called "really quite unnecessary." Given that the virus does not spread easily between people, experts say home quarantine would have been safe.
Next, the federal government required that passengers leaving the Nebraska unit could only finish quarantine at home if local health departments provided round-the-clock monitoring. "They're taking a lot of steps that many would view as very authoritarian, very over-the-top," Hodge said.
Meanwhile, the Ebola crisis in Africa triggered two controversial actions. The administration banned entry from countries with Ebola outbreaks, despite WHO opposition, and barred U.S.
citizens fighting Ebola from returning home for treatment, instead sending them to Europe or a planned facility in Kenya. "It's completely stunning that we would not allow Americans to return to the United States," said Jennifer Nuzzo of Brown University's Pandemic Center.
Lawrence Gostin of Georgetown University compared the tactics to the administration's immigration crackdown. "The administration is conflating its immigration policy with public health guidance and expertise," he said.
"We're seeing a real overkill that's trampling the civil liberties of American citizens." He called the actions "political theater" aimed at looking tough, rather than using science.
Experts warn the tactics could backfire by discouraging early outbreak reporting, undermining public trust, and driving infected people into hiding. Dr.
Martin Cetron, former CDC director of global migration and quarantine, said, "The restrictions can drive people underground." HHS spokesman Andrew Nixon defended the response as "aggressive" and "targeted" to protect Americans.
Some experts, like Dr. Robert Redfield of the Heritage Foundation, defended the hantavirus response given the virus's severity, but disagreed with the Ebola treatment ban.
"They should be able to come back," Redfield said. "Your likelihood of survival if you do get Ebola will be directly linked to the quality of care you get."
The aggressive measures raise fears about how the administration might respond to a domestic outbreak. "Should we start having some outbreaks in the United States, it could be deeply problematic," said Wendy Parmet of Northeastern University.