Hantavirus outbreak: 2 Georgia residents exposed arrive at Emory University Hospital for evaluation

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Two Georgia residents believed to have been exposed to hantavirus arrived in Atlanta on Monday and were taken to Emory University Hospital after being transported through Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, federal health officials confirmed.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the patients were part of a coordinated federal repatriation effort involving American citizens who were exposed aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship, where an outbreak of the Andes variant of hantavirus has prompted international medical response measures.

In a statement released by the Georgia Department of Public Health, state officials said they had been notified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the two individuals who disembarked the ship at the center of the hantavirus outbreak are being transported to Emory University’s Serious Communicable Diseases Unit.

“Federal healthcare workers are taking every precaution needed in each of these cases, and there is no risk to the public at this time,” the statement reads. “DPH remains in active communication with the CDC and other partners and will continue to do so as needed, as we monitor developments over the coming days and weeks.”

Video from Monday morning showed the two patients being removed from an ambulance on stretchers and taken into Emory University Hospital for evaluation and care. One of the patients who arrived at Emory was experiencing symptoms, according to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, but tested negative for hantavirus.

A general view of the cruise ship MV Hondius stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, on May 3, 2026. An outbreak of “severe acute respiratory illness” on board a cruise ship in the Atlantic has left two people dead and a third in intensive care in Johannesburg, South Africa’s health ministry told AFP on May 3, 2025. The outbreak occurred on the MV Hondius, travelling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde. The patient being treated in Johannesburg tested positive for a hantavirus, a family of viruses that can cause hemorrhagic fever, South African spokesperson Foster Mohale said. (Photo by AFP via Getty Images)-
At a signing ceremony at the Georgia Capitol on Monday, Gov. Brian Kemp said that the state is following similar processes that they did with COVID-19 when they removed patients from cruise ships.

“We’re as prepared as any state in the country to do this and it is just the right thing to do,” Kemp said. “You think, if you were one of those passengers that was stranded, especially if you were from Georgia, you would want your state to come to your aid, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

He pointed to Emory’s work treating Ebola patients.

“We’re going to do the right thing. We are going to help get these people back, and we’re going to get them in the right environment that doesn’t put their fellow Georgians in jeopardy,” he said.

The Georgia cases are among a small number of U.S. patients tied to the cruise ship cluster. Federal officials said 16 other exposed passengers are being treated in Omaha, Nebraska, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, a designated specialty facility for emerging infectious diseases.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, working with the State Department and CDC, coordinated airlifts to bring exposed passengers back to the United States for monitoring and treatment. Health officials said each patient is undergoing clinical assessment upon arrival at designated treatment centers.

“HHS is coordinating across the federal government and with international partners to secure the safe return of American citizens exposed to the Andes variant of hantavirus aboard the cruise ship,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in a statement. “Protecting the health and safety of Americans remains our highest priority.”

CDC teams have been deployed to assess passengers and coordinate with state health departments on contact tracing and exposure monitoring. The agency has also issued a Health Alert Network advisory to clinicians about recent hantavirus clusters linked to the outbreak.

Health officials emphasized that the overall risk to the public remains extremely low. Hantavirus is typically not spread from person to person, with transmission considered rare and generally limited to close-contact situations.

Earlier reporting from CBS News Atlanta found that Georgia public health officials were already monitoring two residents connected to the cruise ship exposure before their return to the state.

Emory University Hospital has not released additional details on the patients’ conditions or treatment plans.