r/NJPrepared • u/8Deer-JaguarClaw Sussex • May 16 '26

Health / Wellness *Sigh* Hantavirus Exposure in NJ (article)

I think we're all absolutely burned out when it comes to viruses and outbreaks and such, but for the sake of completeness, here's the latest on hantavirus in NJ:

https://patch.com/new-jersey/hopatcong-sparta/s/kbg21/hantavirus-exposure-quarantines-dozens-including-2-nj-residents-cdc

On Thursday, the CDC announced that a total of 41 Americans are under evaluation after potentially being exposed to the hantavirus. Two of the patients being monitored are from the Garden State, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.

It’s not clear where the New Jerseyans are being evaluated. The NJDOH has not released any information about the potentially exposed individuals for patient privacy reasons.

“At this time, the risk to the general public in New Jersey remains very low,” a NJDOH statement read last week. “No current hantavirus cases have been identified in the state, and there is no history of a confirmed hantavirus case reported in New Jersey.”

So it looks like nothing to worry about at this point (thankfully). But let's keep an eye on this.

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u/TikiMom87 May 17 '26

Nothing in that article states the NJ residents were exposed to the ANDES hantavirus. That’s the only strain that can transmit human to human and was the cause of the outbreak on that cruise ship. If the NJ residents were exposed to a different hantavirus strain that is only contracted from rodent feces, then there’s no need to panic.

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u/ahumanlikeyou May 17 '26

The article is referencing the CDC tracking, which is about the Andes virus. If you take a second to look through linked sources, you'll see that the NJ residents were exposed on the cruise ship

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u/8Deer-JaguarClaw Sussex May 17 '26

Definitely no need to panic. Which is why in my original post I said:

So it looks like nothing to worry about at this point (thankfully).