A hantavirus outbreak aboard the MV Hondius cruise ship has sparked a wave of dangerous conspiracy theories. The vessel, which departed Argentina on April 1 and docked in Tenerife, Spain, on May 10, saw 11 people fall ill, with at least nine confirmed cases and three deaths, including a Dutch couple exposed to the virus in South America. Hantavirus spreads through contact with rodent droppings, not airborne transmission.
Among the false claims: U.S. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene touted the antiparasitic drug ivermectin as a cure. The European Medicines Agency confirms no evidence supports this. Currently, there is no authorized treatment for hantavirus; care is supportive.
Conspiracy theorists allege Moderna staged the outbreak because the company is developing a hantavirus vaccine. In reality, Moderna and Korea University have an early-stage, preclinical collaboration-standard industry practice, not prescience. Johns Hopkins' Dr. Amesh Adalja notes the virus has been a recognized threat for decades.
A bizarre social media trend claims the word "hantavirus" derives from Hebrew slang for "fraud" or "scam," implying an Israeli hoax. This is false. The virus is named after South Korea's Hantan River, site of an outbreak in the 1970s.