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Check the Claim: Is hantavirus the next global pandemic?

SKILL: Check the Claim

DIFFICULTY: Challenging

SUBJECT(S): Politics/Current Events, Science

Posted: May 14, 2026

Students will do a keyword search to find reliable information about the hantavirus outbreak.

Related Lesson

Verification Skills Lesson 3: Check the Claim

Link to Example

Hantavirus outbreak (X/Twitter)
3D illustration of hantavirus

Background

Hantaviruses are a group of viruses carried by rodents, like rats and mice. People can become infected through contact with infected rodents or their urine, droppings, or saliva. While infection is rare, the virus causes serious illness, and even death. One variant of the hantavirus found in South America called the Andes virus is currently known to be transmitted from human to human.

Hantavirus caught international attention after a deadly outbreak on a cruise ship that infected several passengers and, at the time of writing, killed three people. Passengers have been evacuated to their home countries to isolate and those who left the cruise before the virus was identified are being monitored by public health officials.The World Health Organization (WHO) has stressed that the virus poses a low risk to the wider public and this outbreak is not considered the beginning of another pandemic.



About the Example

Teacher Note: If you cannot access X (formerly Twitter), click here to view a screenshot of the post that you can share with your students.

In a viral post on X.com user @adamscochran warned that the cruise ship carrying several passengers infected with hantavius should be “stranded at sea until every, single, person is cleared,” arguing that the “incredibly deadly” virus would make the Covid-19 pandemic “look like child’s play.” They suggested this extreme measure of caution is warranted because the rodent-borne disease had never been transmitted from human to human before. The post is accompanied by a community note that provides context that a strain of hantavirus has actually been documented to be rarely transmitted between humans since the 1990s. The user, however, provided a response to the note calling it “un-useful” and providing a list of arguments to back up their call for isolating the cruise ship.

Before we follow this alarming trail any further, let’s use a keyword search to see what reputable sources are saying about the outbreak. When it comes to important topics like health, we want to look for information from experts with domain knowledge and, better yet, if there is consensus among experts on that topic. In the case of the hantavirus outbreak, we’re looking for information from epidemiologists, research institutions, health authorities, or health reporters from reputable news organizations that have reported on the story.

By searching “hantavirus cruise ship” we find ample coverage from professional news sources (Vox, The Guardian, CBC, Ars Technica), research institutions (Harvard Medical School) and official health authorities (World Health Organization, Public Health Agency of Canada, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control).

Since this is an important issue, let’s look at what a few of our results say:

  • In an article for Ars Technica, senior health reporter Beth Mole explains that health officials and infectious disease experts are confident that the hantavirus outbreak will not be a global health crisis on the scale of the COVID pandemic.
  • An article from the Harvard Medical School says that “Hantavirus infections are not considered a significant risk to the public because of how rare they are and how rarely the virus spreads from person to person.”
  • In an article from The Guardian, an infectious disease expert assures us that “This is not Covid, this is not influenza; it spreads very, very differently.”

While scientists and governments are often cautious when doing things like assessing how dangerous a disease outbreak is, the current consensus among experts is that the hantavirus outbreak is not going to start another pandemic.



Activities 

  1. Show students the post (or screenshot) and ask them to identify the major claims being made.
  2. Have students use a keyword search to find more information about the hantavirus outbreak and the public health response from a health research institution, health agency, experienced health reporter or a reputable news organization. They can use Wikipedia to learn more about the reputation of any unfamiliar sources they encounter. Guiding questions:
    • What source(s) did you consult and why?
    • What additional context did you learn about the hantavirus outbreak?
    • Is there a consensus among experts about the risk posed by the hantavirus outbreak? Explain.


Review and Discuss Key Concepts (optional)

Watch the video “Evaluating Expertise” and review the following terms:

Expert: A person who has authoritative knowledge or skills in a specific area. 

Domain knowledge: Deep understanding of a specific topic. When someone has domain knowledge, they may be considered an expert. For example, epidemiologists have domain knowledge of viruses and how they spread. 

Scientific consensus: overwhelming agreement among experts in a field at a particular time. 



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