New Jersey now SIXTH state with suspected hantavirus circumstances after residents had been uncovered to affected person on airplane

New Jersey health officials are monitoring two state residents who have potentially been exposed to hantavirus, a deadly rat-borne virus fueling an outbreak aboard a cruise ship.

The state health department said in a statement that the residents were possibly exposed to a hantavirus patient who had left the cruise during air travel but were not passengers on board the MV Hondius. 

It is the sixth state known to be monitoring possible hantavirus patients. 

As of Friday, there were three deaths from the virus, five confirmed cases and three suspected.

No cases have been confirmed in the US, though nine Americans have potential exposure and are under medical watch in New Jersey, Georgia, California, Texas, Virginia and Arizona. 

‘No current hantavirus cases have been identified in the state, and there is no history of a confirmed hantavirus case reported in New Jersey,’ the state health department said.

According to officials, neither resident is showing symptoms. No other information regarding the residents was given. 

Concern about an outbreak is rising as approximately 30 passengers have already left the vessel and returned to several different countries and the ship is now on its way to Spain to disembark all of its remaining occupants.

The State Department said Friday that it will arrange repatriation flights for the Americans on the ship and is working with the CDC on transporting them back to the US.  

The incubation period for the hantavirus ranges from four to 42 days. There is no word yet on if the Americans returning will have to quarantine, but the UK is advising its citizens with potential exposure to quarantine for 45 days. 

For Americans, the CDC said, the current risk is low and classified the situation as a Class III, its lowest threat level. 

Hantavirus is typically spread via breathing in dust from the droppings of infected rodents, which may be disturbed during sweeping or cleaning. 

But the World Health Organization (WHO) warned about the possibility of rare human-to-human transmission in this current outbreak.

The hantavirus strain behind the outbreak is the Andes strain – which has been linked to previous outbreaks where the virus has spread between people.

‘Out of all the hantaviruses we know about, only one (the Andes virus) has ever been proven to spread from person to person,’ Dr Zaid Fadul, a physician and CEO of Bespoke Concierge MD, told the Daily Mail.

‘Every other hantavirus strain stays in its rodent host and only jumps to humans when we breathe in aerosolized particles from their droppings, urine, or saliva. Andes virus is the exception.’

Argentine officials reported that a Dutch couple who boarded the MV Hondius had visited a landfill site to take pictures of birds in the city of Ushuaia, which may have exposed them to rodents carrying hantavirus.

That couple eventually died of the virus – the husband on board the ship and the wife after she had disembarked and began her travels home. The third death was a German citizen. 

The WHO is attempting to locate at least 69 people who may have come into contact with the 69-year-old deceased Dutch woman, who boarded two flights before she died of the virus on April 26 in South Africa. 

US state health officials in Georgia, California, Arizona and Virginia have all confirmed that residents from each state were onboard the vessel and have since returned home, where they are being monitored for signs of hantavirus. 

Officials have confirmed to the Daily Mail that two people in Georgia, one person in Arizona and an unspecified number of people in California are back in their respective states and are being monitored by local health authorities. 

The Georgia Department of Public Health told the Daily Mail it ‘is monitoring two Georgia residents who returned home after disembarking from the MV Hondius, the cruise ship at the center of a hantavirus outbreak. 

Georgia officials noted its residents are following recommendations from the CDC. The agency advises those exposed to hantavirus watch for symptoms for 45 days after the last potential exposure.  

The California Department of Public Health also told the Daily Mail that it ‘has been notified by the CDC of California residents that were onboard the cruise ship that had passengers infected with hantavirus. 

‘We are coordinating with local health officials, as needed, to monitor returning travelers,’ the statement continued. ‘There is no information that the California residents are ill or infected.’

The department declined to provide additional details on the patients, citing privacy protection. However, officials told Daily Mail: ‘At this time, the risk to public health in California is low.’

The Arizona Department of Health Services told the Daily Mail it ‘has received notification of one Arizona resident that was a passenger on the MV Hondius. This individual is not symptomatic and is being monitored by public health.’ 

The Virginia Department of Health told the Daily Mail in a statement: ‘The Virginia Department of Health is monitoring this situation closely and has been in active communication with our federal partners at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

‘To date, one Virginia traveler who was on the MV Hondius disembarked the ship and has returned home. This person is currently in good health and is under public health monitoring.’

The department also declined to share further details on the individual, citing privacy concerns. 

Officials also told the Daily Mail: ‘Our understanding is that fewer than 30 U.S. Citizens were on board the ship. A small number (<5) of other potentially exposed Virginians might be identified in the days ahead.

‘We will maintain communication with travelers, local health departments, and federal partners, and will continue to implement recommended public health actions. Generally speaking, we believe the risk to the general public to be low.’

In Texas, officials said in a press release that two residents returned home from the cruise before the outbreak began, had no contact with infected patients and were monitoring themselves for symptoms. 

When spreading person-to-person, hantavirus is transmitted through close contact, which is considered having prolonged, repeated exposure to an infected person’s respiratory droplets or saliva. 

‘Hantavirus exists in rodent saliva, so there could be transmission via saliva and droplets. For people, that would include coughing, kissing, or prolonged close person to person contact,’ Dr Carrie Horn, chief medical officer at National Jewish Health in Colorado, told the Daily Mail.

On cruise ships, that could be tight accommodations, crowded pool and deck areas, as well as busy restaurants and bars.

Close contact could also include planes and being in close quarters with someone while traveling on an aircraft.

Buffets are common on cruise ships with shared utensils and potentially contaminated surfaces that many passengers touch at once, raising the risk of illness.

Hantavirus has a 40 percent mortality rate, primarily due to Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), a severe respiratory condition where blood vessels in the lungs leak, filling air sacs with fluid. This results in respiratory failure. 

There is also no specific treatment for hantavirus, so early medical attention is key for preventing severe illness.