TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A Facebook video [archived] on May 13, 2026, claimed that the Hantavirus was a new virus that was deliberately spread and that a vaccine had been prepared before the outbreak.
The content creator accused the Hantavirus of being part of a depopulation agenda by global elites, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations (UN), and global pharmaceutical companies. This post has been shared 714 times and liked by 1,400 users.
However, is it true that the Hantavirus is a new variant and that a vaccine had been developed before the outbreak?
FACT CHECK
Tempo interviewed epidemiologists and investigated credible media reports. As a result, long before the outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship, the Andes strain of hantavirus had already spread in Argentina in 1996 and 2018.
The First Outbreak of Andes Virus Occurred in 1996
The first outbreak of hantavirus, which causes Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome (HFRS), occurred during the Korean War (1951-1953), infecting more than 3,000 UN troops. In 1993, this virus triggered a more fatal disease, Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), in the western United States.
Since then, new strains of Hantavirus have continued to emerge, including the Andes strain, which infected passengers on the cruise ship MV Hondius in late April 2026. Eight passengers were infected, and three died.
The Andes virus is the only strain of Hantavirus that can be transmitted between humans. However, the outbreak on the MV Hondius was not the first case worldwide.
Research by Toledo et al. (2021) noted that human-to-human transmission of Andes virus was first reported in a 1996 outbreak in southern Argentina. Research by Padula (1998) also revealed a surge in HPS cases in southwestern Argentina, from six cases in 1995 to 20 cases in the spring of 1996. Researchers found direct genetic evidence of human-to-human transmission in 16 epidemiologically linked cases.
The next Andes virus outbreak hit Argentina in 2018. CNN reported that nearly three dozen residents in the small village of Epuyen fell seriously ill and 11 died. Local authorities confirmed the outbreak was triggered by human-to-human transmission of Andes virus.
Dr. Gustavo Palacios, a microbiologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, estimates there have been approximately 300 cases of human-to-human transmission of Andes virus throughout history. "Around 3,000 cases of Andean fever in total," Palacios said, as quoted by CNN on May 7, 2026.
Hantavirus Vaccine Not Yet Licensed for Mass Use
The Korea University website, published on July 25, 2024, reported that Professor Ho Wang Lee's team had been developing a Hantavirus vaccine since the early 1980s. Although its use was authorized in South Korea in 1990, the vaccine was limited to the strain that causes HFRS and had not been tested against all types of Hantavirus. Therefore, Korea University has been collaborating with Moderna since 2023 to develop a vaccine based on mRNA technology.
Rizko Hadi, PhD, a virus researcher from Palangkaraya University, emphasized that the World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that there is no Hantavirus vaccine licensed for widespread use. Vaccine development since the 1980s has been difficult to conduct clinical trials in humans due to the rare number of cases.
"So it's not true that the WHO recommends a vaccine for hantavirus," Rizko said when contacted by Tempo on Saturday, May 23, 2026.
Through its official website, the WHO confirmed that there is no specific antiviral treatment or licensed vaccine for this infection. The global health authority emphasized that preventing hantavirus infection focuses on reducing contact with rodents and maintaining personal and environmental hygiene.
CONCLUSION
Tempo's verification concluded that the claim that hantavirus is a new virus variant for which a vaccine was already developed before the outbreak emerged is false.
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