Health officials are monitoring two New Jersey residents for potential hantavirus exposure following international air travel, the New Jersey Department of Health announced Friday.
The CDC alerted New Jersey authorities that the two residents may have come into contact with an infected person during a flight abroad. That individual had recently departed the cruise ship MV Hondius—the vessel at the center of a global hantavirus outbreak that has resulted in nine confirmed or suspected cases and three deaths worldwide. The two New Jersey residents were not cruise passengers.
Neither resident is currently showing symptoms. State health officials emphasized that the risk to the general public remains very low, and no confirmed hantavirus case has ever been reported in New Jersey. “There are no confirmed cases of hantavirus in New Jersey. We will continue to keep residents informed as the situation develops,” Governor Mikie Sherrill said in a statement.
The outbreak involves the Andes virus—a hantavirus strain found primarily in South America and the only known variant capable of person-to-person transmission. Most hantavirus strains in the U.S. are carried by rodents and are incapable of spreading between people. Experts stress that person-to-person transmission is rare and typically requires close, prolonged contact with an infected individual or their bodily fluids. The virus does not spread easily like flu or COVID-19 and is not expected to become a pandemic. People without symptoms are not considered infectious. The incubation period ranges from four days to more than a month.
Fewer than 50 hantavirus cases are reported in the United States each year, with a majority occurring on the West Coast. No cases have been reported in New Jersey in more than 30 years. New Jersey joins at least five other states—Georgia, Texas, Virginia, Arizona, and California—monitoring individuals who may have been exposed. None have shown symptoms so far.
Investigators suspect the cruise ship cases originated during a birdwatching trip in Ushuaia, Argentina in late April. The New Jersey Department of Health is coordinating with local and federal partners. Updates will be provided by the department as more information becomes available.
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