Hantavirus Conspiracy Theories Spread Rapidly Online
▼ Summary
– Conspiracy theorists compared the hantavirus outbreak to the Covid-19 pandemic, falsely claiming it was a population control effort or that the Covid-19 vaccine caused hantavirus.
– Many promoters pushed ivermectin as a treatment, using the outbreak to sell emergency medical kits containing the antiparasitic drug, despite no research supporting its effectiveness.
– Antisemitic conspiracy theories emerged, falsely alleging the outbreak was a false flag orchestrated by Israel.
– Epidemiologist Katrine Wallace noted that misinformation narratives now organize rapidly around emerging outbreaks, often with contradictory claims that still spread widely.
– Prominent figures like Mary Talley Bowden and Marjorie Taylor Greene promoted ivermectin and baseless claims, including that natural immunity from avoiding the Covid-19 vaccine could protect against hantavirus.
Within hours of the first reports about a hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship, a familiar pattern emerged online. Conspiracy theorists, wellness influencers, and opportunistic grifters began flooding social media with dangerous falsehoods, mirroring the same disinformation playbook that defined the Covid-19 pandemic era.
Some claimed the outbreak was a deliberate attempt to impose global population control. Others pushed the baseless narrative that Covid-19 vaccines caused hantavirus. A significant number promoted ivermectin as a treatment, using the news to hawk emergency medical kits containing the antiparasitic drug more commonly used as a horse dewormer. More recently, antisemitic conspiracy theories have circulated, alleging the entire incident is a “false flag” orchestrated by Israel.
This rapid deployment of misinformation is not new, but its speed and structure are telling. “One of the most striking shifts since the Covid pandemic is how rapidly misinformation narratives now organize themselves around emerging outbreaks,” says Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health. “Within hours of the first hantavirus headlines, social media accounts were already promoting ivermectin, attributing the outbreak to Covid vaccines, and warning about a hantavirus vaccine that does not exist. The claims themselves were often contradictory, but that contradiction no longer appears to limit their spread.”
The grift was immediate. Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a known promoter of medical misinformation, posted on X that “ivermectin should work against it.” Her message, viewed 4 million times, was shared by former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who added that vitamin D and zinc would help and claimed, without evidence, that avoiding the Covid vaccine gave her “natural immunity” to hantavirus. Greene also alleged, baselessly, that Moderna engineered the virus to profit from a future vaccine. Neither responded to requests for comment.
Other prolific disinformation figures joined in. Simone Gold, founder of the Covid denial group America’s Frontline Doctors, and Peter McCullough, known for the “sudden death” conspiracy theory about the Covid vaccine, both boosted the ivermectin claims. McCullough, chief scientific officer of The Wellness Company (described as “Goop for the GOP”), used the outbreak to promote a $325 “Contagion Emergency Kit” containing ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine.
The falsehoods gained enough traction that the World Health Organization issued a response: there is no research suggesting ivermectin is effective against hantavirus. Yet the baseless claim that the Covid vaccine itself causes hantavirus infection continues to circulate. The speed and coordination of this disinformation highlight a dangerous new reality in public health communication.
(Source: Wired)