Tweet predicting Hantavirus outbreak four years ago is freaking people out

A self-styled mystic may have 'predicted' the current hantavirus outbreak, according to a 2022 tweet.

Concerns about the hantavirus have made headlines in recent weeks, following an outbreak of the rodent-borne disease onboard Dutch cruise liner MV Hondius.

The ship, carrying 170 passengers, departed from Argentina at the beginning of April and was headed for Antarctica as well as several of the world's most remote islands when a 69-year-old man became unwell and later died.

Since then, a total of eight passengers - five confirmed and three suspected - are believed to have developed symptoms of the disease, which carries up to a 40 percent mortality rate.

And now people are claiming the outbreak was 'predicted' after a 2022 tweet referring to the virus goes viral.

A cruise ship outbreak of hantavirus is currently being monitored (Arman Onal/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Posted on 11 June, 2022, a tweet from the account @iamasoothsayer wrote: "2023: Corona ended 2026: Hantavirus."

In 2023, the World Health Organisation declared that COVID-19 was no longer considered a 'global emergency' three years after the outbreak of the pandemic – a piece of news which came as a relief to all of us.

The tweet in question (X)

So you can understand that a tweet claiming to have predicted the end of coronavirus and the outbreak of hantavirus would freak people out, especially as the memories of lockdown, banana bread making while watching Tiger King, and social distancing are still fairly recent memories.

Hantavirus also wasn't really in the headlines three years ago, which is understandable as we were a bit preoccupied, which makes the post feel even more creepy.

The post has since been inundated with responses from memes, jokes and concerns from other users, with one person writing: "This has to be a simulation."

"This guy posted this in 2022. It was his penultimate post on this social network. After that, he disappeared without a trace. He knew things," read a second reaction, while a third person joked: "No other explanation other than the CIA predating world events with tweets."

Several passengers either believed or confirmed to have the illness have been medically evacuated (Lina Selg / AFP via Getty Images)

Could hantavirus become the next global pandemic?

Before you all start panic-buying toilet roll and painkillers, it might be worth considering the possibility of this tweet.

After all, a broken clock is right twice a day, so if we all start tweeting out random predictions, at least one of us will likely turn out to be right.

And while it wasn't being talked about at the time, hantavirus still existed in 2023, as the disease was first discovered back in the 1950s and later identified in the late 70s.

It's also important to remember that hantavirus is a lot less contagious than coronavirus, meaning it doesn't have the same pandemic potential. And if you don't believe me, then the World Health Organisation categorised the current outbreak as 'low', meaning there is little risk of it spreading through the wider population.

"The risk to the general population remains very low, and the public can be reassured that established infection control measures will be put in place at every step of the journey to ensure the safe repatriation of British passengers on board," Professor Robin May, Chief Scientific Officer at UKHSA, added of the situation.

Three passengers - either suspected or confirmed to have hantavirus - have died (AFP via Getty Images)

The symptoms of the Andes strain of hantavirus and how it spreads

The Andes strain of hantavirus is very rare. Microbiologist Dr Gustavo Palacios told CNN there have only ever been 3,000 known cases.

It is the only documented form of hantavirus with human-to-human transmission. One study showed that window for patients to be infectious was about a day, when they develop a fever. But they also found it was transmissible through only brief proximity to an infected person.

Andes virus (ANDV) is primarily found in South America and has a high fatality rate, between 20 and 40 percent. It can cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), which attacks the lungs. Symptoms start one to eight weeks after infection.

The symptoms of hantavirus

Hantavirus can cause two life-threatening syndromes, according to the WHO: hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).

The early symptoms of HPS, which attacks the lungs, start one to eight weeks after infection, and include:

• Fatigue
• Fever
• Muscles aches
• Headaches
• Dizziness
• Chills
• Nausea and vomiting
• Diarrhoea

Later symptoms include:

• Coughing
• Shortness of breath
• Tightness in the chest

Early symptoms of HFRS, which affects the kidneys, start one to two weeks after infection, and include:

• Intense headaches
• Back pain
• Abdominal pain
• Fever/chills
• Nausea
• Blurred vision

Later symptoms include:

• Low blood pressure
• Internal bleeding
• Acute kidney failure.