Maryland monitors two residents after possible hantavirus exposure abroad

Health officials in Maryland are monitoring two residents after a possible hantavirus exposure abroad, a development that shows how a shipboard outbreak in the Atlantic Ocean can trigger follow-up precautions far from the vessel itself. The Maryland Department of Health said the two people were not passengers on the M/V Hondius cruise ship. Their possible exposure happened during air travel abroad, when a flight briefly included a passenger from the ship who had been infected.

State officials said the risk to the public in Maryland remains very low and declined to release more information about the residents to protect their privacy. The focus now is on watching for symptoms over time, not on widespread community transmission.

That caution reflects what is known about Andes virus, the form of hantavirus linked to the cruise ship outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Andes virus is the only hantavirus known to spread from person to person, and even then it does not spread easily. Transmission usually requires close, prolonged contact with someone who is symptomatic, or exposure to that person’s saliva, respiratory secretions or other body fluids.

The timing also matters. CDC says symptoms of Andes-virus hantavirus infection can appear four to 42 days after exposure, which is why public health agencies are monitoring exposed travelers over an extended period. The agency has said the risk to the American public remains extremely low.

The outbreak began with a cluster reported to the World Health Organization on May 2, 2026. WHO confirmed on May 6 that the strain was Andes virus. As of May 8, WHO said the M/V Hondius had carried 147 passengers and crew and that eight cases had been reported, including three deaths. Six of the cases were laboratory-confirmed hantavirus infections.

Federal agencies have also moved to isolate and observe some U.S. citizens connected to the ship. The University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine said federal partners asked them to receive and monitor those travelers in the National Quarantine Unit on the Omaha campus, which UNMC describes as the only federally funded quarantine unit in the United States.

For Maryland, the immediate public health message is narrow but important: a possible exposure on one flight does not mean local spread. Officials are tracking the two residents because hantavirus can cause severe illness, but the combination of a rare virus, a limited route of transmission, and close monitoring is why health authorities say the danger to the broader public remains low.