Conspiracy

Ebola and hantavirus see record-breaking spread of conspiracy theories

By T.K. Randall
May 29, 2026

Image: AI-generated (Midjourney) Before the pandemic, conspiracy theories about viruses and vaccines did exist, but they were nowhere near as widespread and, perhaps crucially, were seen more as fringe, 'out there' ideas.

Now, however, these beliefs have become almost mainstream, with more and more people believing even some of the wildest theories to be true.

This trend has become all the more evident recently with the emergence of two new viral outbreaks - Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the hantavirus outbreak, which began on a cruise ship in the South Atlantic and has so far been responsible for several deaths.

Now with the added factor of AI and social media helping to perpetuate conspiracy theories, more people than ever seem to believe that something is up with these viral outbreaks.

For many, Ebola - for instance - is everything from a biological weapon to a financial scam.Hantavirus, meanwhile, has been blamed on a multitude of things ranging from Bill Gates to the coronavirus vaccines, while also being attributed to some sort of false flag operation.

Whatever you can think of - someone will likely believe that it's true.

"This is very normal, and we should not be shocked that people are conspiracy theorizing," Dr Joseph Uscinski of the University of Miami told The Guardian.

"If people are paying attention to something, so are people who are conspiracy-minded, and they are going to interpret disease through that lens."

"Of course, there is going to be a conspiracy behind it and they're going to blame people they already dislike."

The problem is, if the truth is whatever people decide it is - then reality may get lost along the way.

Source: The Guardian

Tags: Conspiracies