An outbreak of hantavirus aboard a cruise ship has sparked fear and anxiety among people around the world, while bringing back haunting memories of the Covid-19 pandemic. Countries around the world are monitoring passengers on the affected ship to prevent further spread of Hantavirus. Three people – a Dutch couple and a German national – died in the outbreak on the MV Hondius, with eight people believed to have contracted the virus, according to Reuters.
Old social media posts are resurfacing online
A social media post from the year 2022 has unexpectedly resurfaced online and is gaining massive attention. The post was shared by user X under the name “soothsayer”, a word traditionally used to describe someone believed to foretell future events through mystical or intuitive powers. The term is famously associated with Julius Caesar, where an oracle warns Caesar to “beware the Ides of March”.
Backing up that identity, the account’s bio supposedly says it “reads the future.”
In a post from 2022, a user wrote: “2023: Corona is over”. The message was followed by another statement: “2026: Hantavirus”.
Reactions flood social networks
The old post has now gone viral, prompting reactions from users across social media, including commenters and prediction platform Polymarket, which describes itself as “the world’s largest prediction market”.
“It’s all one big show,” one user commented, while another wrote: “It must be a simulation.”
Polymarket jokingly replied, “Brother needs to get to Polymarket.”
Another asked, “How did you know, seers?”
What is hantavirus?
Hantaviruses are zoonotic viruses that infect rodents and are occasionally transmitted to humans, according to the WHO. In rare cases, this virus can be transmitted from person to person.
Hantavirus strains in the Americas are known to affect lung and heart function and cause hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), while in Europe and Asia they affect the kidneys and blood vessels and cause hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. According to the National Institute of Communicable Diseases in South Africa and the University Hospitals of Geneva (HUG) in Switzerland, the strain of virus found on the MV Hondius was confirmed to be Andes virus, a type of hantavirus found in South America.
How deadly is hantavirus?
Hantavirus, transmitted by rodents, is a deadly infection that can cause serious illness in humans. Humans can become infected if they come into contact with infected rodents, their urine, droppings or saliva.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement: “Hantaviruses are a group of rodent-borne viruses that can cause serious disease in humans. People are usually infected through contact with infected rodents or their urine, feces or saliva. The species of hantavirus involved in this case is the Andes virus, which is found in Latin America and is the only known species that can be transmitted between humans.”
