Hantavirus in Georgia: What State Health Authorities Have Confirmed

Last updated: May 7, 2026 · 12:00 UTC

WTOC, the CBS affiliate in Savannah, reported on May 6 that the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is monitoring at least one person with a connection to the MV Hondius Andes hantavirus cluster. To be precise about what that means: monitoring is not the same as a confirmed infection. A monitored contact is a person who may have been exposed — for example, by sharing a flight or living quarters with a confirmed case — but who has not tested positive for Andes hantavirus and may be entirely asymptomatic.

The CDC has confirmed that travelers in at least 3 US states are under monitoring (per Reuters citing the CDC). Georgia is one of the states publicly named. There are no PCR-confirmed Andes hantavirus cases in Georgia from this cluster as of May 7, 2026. The Georgia DPH's role in this incident is to coordinate symptom-tracking, contact-tracing, and laboratory testing for any persons who develop suggestive clinical signs during the monitoring window.

What is being monitored. Per the CDC's Health Alert Network guidance, monitoring of MV Hondius contacts focuses on travelers who shared a flight with the confirmed Dutch nationals — including the April 25 Saint-Helena-to-Johannesburg connection and Amsterdam-bound onward flights — plus any household contacts of returning passengers. Monitoring typically runs for the maximum incubation period (around 6 weeks for hantavirus) and involves daily symptom check-ins by phone or app. No quarantine is required for asymptomatic monitored contacts under current US guidance.

Public risk in Georgia. The WHO Director-General's May 7, 2026 briefing assessed the general public health risk as LOW. Andes hantavirus does not spread through casual contact or shared public spaces. Residents of Georgia who have no link to MV Hondius passengers — i.e. who did not share an aircraft cabin with a confirmed case and have no household contacts who did — do not need to take any special precautions.

We will update this page when the Georgia DPH or CDC publishes additional information.