Topline
Healthcare professionals and specialists are raising alarms over a trending online claim that suggests ivermectin, an anti-parasitic medication, is effective against hantavirus. This misinformation emerges in the wake of a cruise ship outbreak that has tragically resulted in three deaths and several illnesses.
Dr. Dana Mazo, an infectious disease expert at Tisch Hospital in New York, emphasized to Forbes the lack of scientific evidence supporting the use of ivermectin for treating hantavirus in humans. Mazo cautioned that such “misinformation” could lead to public confusion, deter individuals from adhering to proven recommendations, and ultimately pose harm.
The misinformation gained traction online after Dr. Mary Talley Bowden, who faced disciplinary action by the Texas Medical Board in 2021 for prescribing the drug to a COVID-19 patient, shared the claim on X in a tweet that has reached 3.5 million views.
Bowden argued that since hantavirus is classified as an RNA virus—a broad category that includes many viruses with varying behaviors—ivermectin could be effective. Although ivermectin has demonstrated some ability to hinder the replication of RNA viruses in laboratory settings, these findings have not been validated in human trials.
Mazo warns against assuming that laboratory results will directly translate to human treatment without extensive research. Notably, there has been no specific testing of ivermectin against hantavirus, not even in laboratory environments.
Bowden’s assertion was further amplified by former MAGA Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who speculated, without substantiation, that pharmaceutical companies might have engineered the hantavirus outbreak to profit from future vaccine developments.
Bowden’s claim was amplified online by former MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has also suggested with no evidence that pharmaceutical companies somehow manipulated the hantavirus to create an opportunity for profit via future vaccine development.
Other medical professionals also quickly rejected Bowden’s claims: Dr. Krutika Kuppalli, an internal medicine professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, said there is “no clinical evidence” supporting ivermectin kills hantavirus and Dr. Neil Stone, infectious disease doctor at the University College London Hospitals in the United Kingdom, tweeted “Ivermectin does NOTHING to treat Hantavirus.”
Crucial Quote
“There are a lot of cases where ivermectin is the right drug, but certainly not hantavirus cases, where we have no evidence it will help,” Mazo said.
Key Background
Ivermectin is an antiparasitic drug that revolutionized the treatment of debilitating diseases, specifically those caused by roundworm parasites. Its discovery won two scientists a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015 and it has a reputation as a “wonder drug” for parasites. The FDA approves its use for humans in very specific, limited conditions. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a few small studies and observational reports suggested ivermectin could lead to lower mortality and faster recovery for patients, but those studies were fraught with statistical errors and other problems and one influential study was later withdrawn after allegations of fabrication and plagiarism. Despite no Food and Drug Administration approval and no true scientific evidence it would work, some doctors and activist groups aggressively promoted it as a COVID treatment. When the FDA famously tweeted in 2021 “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, y’all.” in efforts to discourage its use, many interpreted the message as mocking ordinary patients desperate for help in an uncertain time and the drug went on to become a larger symbol of the distrust between Americans and the government during the pandemic. By 2023, the scientific consensus was that ivermectin did not meaningfully help treat COVID, but personal anecdotes continued to spread.
