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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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A deadly outbreak of hantavirus aboard a cruise ship has sparked a revival of COVID-era anti-vaccine fears, with social media users claiming the outbreak is part of a conspiracy to get Americans vaccinated against the virus.
"DO. NOT. TAKE. IT. Under ANY circumstances," the Patriot Voice account told its almost 200,000 followers on X while commenting on a 2024 report that Moderna, a pharmaceutical company that developed a COVID-19 vaccine, was working to develop a hantavirus vaccine.
Misinformation about virus outbreaks can undermine trust in medical guidance, and unsubstantiated claims can distract from proven prevention measures or delay people from seeking care. Clear, evidence-based information is critical during outbreaks, particularly with infections with a high fatality rate.
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Dr. Adam Gaffney, a critical care physician, a public health researcher and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, told Newsweek, "The danger here is that patients believe these charlatans and do not get proper care—as we saw during the COVID-19 pandemic, when an untold number of Americans were led to believe ivermectin was a superior alternative to vaccination, undoubtedly causing many unnecessary deaths."
Newsweek has contacted the Department of Health and Human Services via a form on its website.
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The Return of Ivermectin
Social media users have said ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug that was touted by some as a treatment for COVID-19, could also be used to treat hantavirus, which can rapidly progress and become life-threatening.
Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, a vaccine skeptic who was disciplined by the Texas medical board last year after prescribing ivermectin to a COVID-19 patient in 2021, wrote on X that hantavirus "is a RNA virus, and ivermectin should work against it."
Her post has been amplified by conservatives, including former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican. "Those of us who refused to lockdown, mask up, and get vaxxed took the good ole horse paste and also developed natural immunity," Greene wrote.
MAGA influencer Gunther Eagleman wrote in response to Bowden's post, "Ivermectin is the answer."
There is no specific treatment or cure for a hantavirus infection, though early medical attention can increase the chance of survival for patients.
While there were legitimate concerns about the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, public health consensus is that the vaccines do a good job in preventing severe disease, hospitalization and death, and the risks of side effects are low.
Though some have promoted ivermectin as a treatment for COVID-19, the drug is not authorized or approved by the FDA for preventing or treating COVID-19, and most health experts and agencies recommend against prescribing ivermectin for that purpose. The FDA has said there is no available clinical trial data that shows ivermectin is effective against COVID-19.
Doctors specializing in public health have similarly spoken out against the promotion of ivermectin amid the hantavirus outbreak, rejecting Bowden's claim and warning of the dangers of such theories.
What Doctors Are Saying About Ivermectin
Bowden, an ear, nose, and throat specialist in Houston who gained attention in 2021 after decrying vaccine mandates and championing ivermectin, wrote on X, "Ivermectin blocks RNA viruses from entering the nucleus, inhibits viral replication, disrupts integrity of the viral membrane and can prevent viral replication."
Catharine Young of Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who holds a doctorate in biomedical sciences, rejected Bowden's argument.
"Great strategy. If only Hentavirus replicated in the nucleus and not entirely in the cytoplasm," Young wrote on X.
Dr. Neil Stone, a specialist in infectious diseases at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases at University College Hospital in London, wrote on X on Wednesday, "Before anyone suggests it… Ivermectin doesn't treat Hantavirus."
Gaffney told Newsweek that the "disturbing rise in conspiracism on matters of medicine" that has led some to promote ivermectin for hantavirus is "not merely about a few social media posts: It is part and parcel of a larger shift in the public discourse away from evidence and science on health issues."
"Our leading health official regularly promulgates falsehoods about vaccines and other public health matters," Gaffney continued, referring to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic.
He added: "Numerous states have passed legislation making ivermectin available 'over the counter' in response to burgeoning conspiracy theories that it is a panacea. Millions of Americans watched as Mel Gibson promoted two antiparasitic agents as miracle drugs against cancer on Joe Rogan's podcast, for instance."
Experts have said there are no studies demonstrating the drug cures cancer in humans.
What Happened on the Cruise Ship?
Three passengers have died in the outbreak, and several others have been sickened by the Andes virus, a strain of hantavirus, on board the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that eight people are suspected to have contracted hantavirus, including three confirmed by laboratory testing.
The ship, which has almost 150 people, is now heading to Spain's Canary Islands. It had been marooned off the coast of Cape Verde since Sunday.
How Does Hantavirus Spread?
Hantavirus is a rare, rodent-borne illness that usually spreads by inhaling contaminated rodent droppings. The Andes strain is the only hantavirus known to spread from human to human.
Experts have told Newsweek that the outbreak is unlikely to become a pandemic because of its limited ability to be transmitted between people. Hantavirus does not spread easily, and it does not spread before people show symptoms.
"Pandemic potential is mostly about transmission architecture, not lethality," Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Newsweek. "The biology that drives pandemics is how a pathogen moves between people—not how sick it makes them."
WHO Adds 'Hand Hygiene' to Hantavirus Advice
The WHO has updated its advice on hantavirus to stress the importance of hand hygiene.
The organization updated its fact sheet detailing advice for infection prevention and control in health care settings on Wednesday to note that hand hygiene should be among the standard precautions applied for all patients, as well as "environmental cleaning and safe handling of blood and body fluids."
The advice was also updated to say, "For suspected or confirmed hantavirus infection, use of standard precautions combined with transmission-based precautions during provision of care is advised."
The advice earlier said that such precautions were "considered sufficient."
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