Hantavirus Scare

Overview

The Hantavirus is a rare infectious disease that is only known to spread from rodents to humans. The hantavirus began trending on Twitter in March 2020 due to one case reported in China in a post with little information about what the hantavirus is. Many Twitter users began calling hantavirus the coronavirus in memes spreading misinformation.

Background

On March 23rd, 2020, Twitter user @globaltimesnews^[1] tweeted, "A person from Yunnan Province died while on his way back to Shandong Province for work on a chartered bus on Monday. He was tested positive for #hantavirus. Other 32 people on bus were tested" (shown below). The tweet garnered over 19,800 likes and 16,200 retweets in two days.

developments

On March 24th, 2020, Twitter user @terikehkehluga^[2] tweeted, "When you're not even done with Covid-19 and China releases Covid-20 Pro max #Hantavirus" (shown below, left). The tweet garnered over 2,200 likes and 740 retweets in a day. That same day, Twitter user @Eng_Abalarabe^[3] tweeted, "Me: currently reading this due to the releasing of new version of Corona #Hantavirus" with an image of kermit the frog reading about leaving the planet (shown below, right). The tweet received over 590 likes in a day. On March 24th, Snopes^[5] reported that "Because hantavirus is not new and because it isn’t transmitted between humans, no one should fear that a new outbreak of disease caused by hantavirus is looming. We therefore rate this claim 'False.'"

On March 25th, Twitter user @ENdilichi^[4] tweeted, "Seems China Flag of China is trying to spell their name with all these viruses C – #Coronavirus H – #Hantavirus I – ??" (shown below). The tweet accumulated over 530 likes in a day. That same day, Redditor ladydolphinbutt posted "Why are people talking about Hantavirus?" to r/OutoftheLoop.^[6]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References