Experts refute claims hantavirus derived name from Hebrew for 'nonsense'

"We do not need to be afraid of the virus, since 'hanta' in Hebrew means nonsense," says Dharma Pongrekun, a former candidate for governor of Indonesia's capital Jakarta, in an interview posted on YouTube on May 15, 2026.

The video, which has racked up more than 200,000 views, also shows Dharma describing hantavirus as "a global agenda" to sell vaccines -- echoing language he used in an earlier political event where he falsely suggested Covid-19 was a made-up pandemic.

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Screenshot of the false post captured on June 3, 2026, with a red X mark added by AFP

Covid-era conspiracies resurged on social media following the global scare sparked by a hantavirus outbreak on the MV Hondius cruise ship from Argentina to Cape Verde (archived here and here).

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 13 cases, including three deaths, have been reported as of May 27 (archived link).

Eight infections were confirmed for Andes virus -- the only strain transmitted between humans through close and prolonged contact, and which is predominantly found in parts of South America (archived link).

All known cases in the outbreak were people on board the Dutch-flagged vessel, with the WHO saying the risk to the general population is "absolutely low" (archived here and here).

Similar claims that the supposed Hebrew origin of the name of the virus is evidence that the disease is fraudulent have spread in Australia, the Philippines and the United States, and in posts written in English, Japanese and Spanish.

In Indonesia, the claims made by former politician Dharma were reshared on Instagram and TikTok.

When contacted by AFP on June 4, he shared a screenshot appearing to show a Google AI Overview that says in Indonesian: "In modern Hebrew language, 'hanta' means nonsense, lies, or fraud."

AFP conducted multiple keyword searches on Google, but none yielded similar results.

Name origin

Moreover, several experts said "hanta" is not a Hebrew word, contrary to claims online.

Yaron Peleg, a professor on Modern Hebrew Studies at the University of Cambridge, told AFP in a June 2 email the word does not exist in the language (archived link).

Sapri Sale, founder of the Jakarta Hebrew Learning Center, said on May 29 the closest word in Hebrew that sounds similar to "hanta" would be "khantah" -- referring to the fruit ripening process (archived link).

An AFP journalist whose native language is Hebrew noted the words for "nonsense" are "shtuyot", "qishqush" and the slang term "kharta" -- which could sound close to "hanta" but is still not the same word.

Articles published in academic journals have consistently stated hantavirus was named after the Hantan River in South Korea, where the first known outbreak was recorded (archived link).

More than 3,000 troops fell seriously ill after becoming infected during the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Public health concern

Although "relatively uncommon", some hantavirus cases are associated with a high fatality rate, making the disease "a major public health concern", according to the WHO (archived link).

Hantaviruses are generally known to cause two distinct illnesses.

"In the Americas, infection has been known to lead to hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS), a rapidly progressive condition affecting the lungs and heart," the WHO said.

"In Europe and Asia hantaviruses have been known to cause haemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), which primarily affects the kidneys and blood vessels."

Transmission of hantaviruses to humans generally occurs from contact with contaminated urine, droppings or saliva of infected wild rodents, such as mice or rats.

There are currently no approved vaccines for global use or specific treatments for the infection -- meaning treatment consists solely of attempting to relieve the symptoms.

The WHO estimates that from 10,000 to over 100,000 cases occur each year.

In Indonesia, the health ministry said there were 256 suspected hantavirus cases in several provinces from 2024 to 2026, with 23 cases of HFRS confirmed (archived link).

Local media Kompas reported three deaths from HFRS were logged for the same period (archived link).

More of our reporting on hantavirus misinformation can be found here.