2 N.J. residents potentially exposed to hantavirus, health officials say. Here's what we know.

Two New Jersey residents were potentially exposed to a person infected with hantavirus, according to health officials. 

The New Jersey Department of Health said it was notified by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the two New Jersey residents were potentially exposed after an infected person left the MV Hondius cruise ship. 

The two Garden State residents were not on the cruise ship, but may have been exposed while flying abroad. Neither resident has any symptoms, but both are being monitored as a precaution.

"Fortunately, at this time, they are not exhibiting any symptoms that would suggest that they might have an infection, but we will continue to monitor them for the full incubation period," Acting New Jersey State Health Commissioner Dr. Raynard Washington said.

"There are no confirmed cases of hantavirus in New Jersey. We will continue to keep residents informed as the situation develops," Gov. Mikie Sherrill said in a statement on social media. 

Sherrill and state health officials said the risk to the general public is very low in New Jersey.

"I would encourage folks ... to be vigilant, but don't panic," Washington said. "This is certainly not COVID."

What is hantavirus? 

Hantavirus in the U.S. is carried by rodents and doesn't spread from person to person.

The Andes virus, the strain involved in the outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, is capable of person-to-person transmission, though it is considered rare and requires prolonged close contact with someone who has been infected, or with their bodily fluids. Incubation can take anywhere from four days to more than a month, and people who have no symptoms are not considered infectious. 

"What we have seen with the Andes virus is that, yes, it has spread person-to-person, but that has been in the context of very prolonged close contact, so people who are sexual partners, people sharing a bed," said Dr. Celine Gounder, editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News. 

"It's not gonna be spread through things like casual contact," New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin said. 

According to the World Health Organization, people usually get hantaviruses through contact with infected rodents, including their urine, droppings or saliva.

Washington said symptoms include fever, chills or body aches.

"That can, of course, accelerate quickly to more complicated symptoms like pneumonia and potentially organ failure or heart failure," he said.

The total incubation time for hantavirus is up to eight weeks.

Global outbreak unlikely, expert says

Health officials in Arizona, Virginia, Georgia, Texas and California are monitoring passengers who were on board the MV Hondius before any cases of hantavirus were confirmed. So far, none of those passengers have exhibited any signs of illness. 

Worldwide, there have been nine confirmed or suspected cases and three deaths that have been linked to the cruise ship. 

Dr. Adeel Butt, an infectious disease expert with Hackensack Meridian Health, said hantavirus remains rare worldwide and that medical experts are not expecting a widespread outbreak. 

"While it can cause severe disease, the likelihood of it becoming very transmissible is extremely low. So generally, the experts, globally, agree that it turning into COVID is extremely unlikely," Butt said. 

The 17 Americans who were on the ship will be quarantined at the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine, the hospital said in a statement. 

Click here for more information about the hantavirus from the CDC.