TWO NEW JERSEY RESIDENTS BEING MONITORED AFTER POSSIBLE HANTAVIRUS EXPOSURE LINKED TO INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL, OFFICIALS SAY. (PHOTO).

 Two New Jersey residents being monitored after possible hantavirus exposure linked to international travel, officials say

Two New Jersey residents are being monitored by health officials after a possible exposure to hantavirus tied to international travel involving a cruise ship linked to a reported outbreak, state authorities said.

Officials said the individuals were not passengers aboard the MV Hondius, but may have come into contact with someone who had been on the vessel during air travel abroad. The ship, which departed from Argentina, has been associated with a deadly hantavirus outbreak and is now en route to Spain’s Canary Islands, where passengers are expected to be repatriated. Spanish citizens on board are scheduled to be taken to a military hospital in Madrid for quarantine and further observation.

Neither New Jersey resident is showing symptoms, and health officials emphasized that asymptomatic individuals are not considered contagious. The monitoring period for hantavirus can last between four and 42 days.

State officials stressed that the risk to the public in New Jersey remains very low. No cases of hantavirus have been identified in the state, and there is no record of a confirmed infection there.

Hantaviruses found in the United States are typically carried by rodents and are not known to spread between people. However, the strain linked to the cruise ship outbreak, the Andes virus, is found in South America and is the only known hantavirus capable of limited person-to-person transmission, usually requiring close and prolonged contact.

The identities of the two individuals are not being released due to privacy protections, and officials say monitoring will continue as a precaution while the situation is investigated.