Fact Check: Hantavirus Is Not a COVID-like Conspiracy

Jakarta – Claims circulating on social media that the Hantavirus is a man-made conspiracy designed for vaccine profits have been debunked by Indonesian news outlet Tempo.

Posts on Instagram and Facebook since early May 2026 have propagated narratives equating the Hantavirus outbreak with a global agenda and an intelligence operation. These claims suggest the virus was engineered and exaggerated by media to drive vaccine sales.

However, Tempo's investigation, involving interviews with epidemiologists and a review of medical archives, found no scientific basis for these conspiracy theories. The recent Andes strain Hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship, which resulted in three deaths, serves as evidence of the virus's natural occurrence and reality.

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses originating from wild rodents. While the Andes strain is known to transmit between humans, the virus itself is not new. It was first identified in the 1950s during the Korean War and reappeared in the U.S. in 1993. Globally, Hantavirus infections, primarily Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS), affect an estimated 150,000 people annually, mainly in Asia and Europe. In contrast, COVID-19 has infected over 704 million people worldwide.

Experts assess Hantavirus's pandemic potential as very low. Unlike SARS-CoV-2, which spreads rapidly through airborne droplets and asymptomatic carriers, Hantavirus typically transmits to humans through inhalation of particles from infected rodents' excreta. This distinct transmission mechanism, coupled with its natural origins, differentiates it significantly from the global COVID-19 pandemic.