Are we going for a ride again? Barely a few years after the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, we are again faced with a strange virus, a hantavirus, detected on several passengers of the cruise ship MV Hondius who are starting to be repatriated and placed in quarantine in their country. And who says quarantine, outbreak, virus, contagion and panic also says… ivermectin!
Remember: ivermectin is this drug used to treat certain parasitic infections in humans, notably onchocerciasis and intestinal strongyloidiasis, which some recommended for use against Covid-19. A so-called miracle treatment, which had never been scientifically proven. And while the hantavirus rears its head, the fervent defenders of ivermectin take the opportunity to make their comeback.
Unsurprisingly, we have to look to the United States to find its promoters. Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, for example, posted a message on X suggesting that vitamin D, zinc and of course ivermectin could prevent this disease. In another post, she shared a 2024 article about the search for an mRNA hantavirus vaccine, saying pharmaceutical companies “manipulate the virus (biological weapon)” And “make the vaccine (poison)”.
And she is far from the only one. On social networks, the return of ivermectin is resounding. Several American personalities are promoting it in the face of hantavirus, such as doctor and activist Mary Talley Bowden, or even commentator Josh Walkos, reports The Intercept.
Covid-19 effect
Let’s be clear, for the moment, there is no clinical evidence to support any effectiveness of ivermectin against hantaviruses. Worse, too high a dose of this medication can cause serious side effects.
Here we are dealing with a hantavirus from the Andes which can cause serious respiratory and heart infections, and for which there is, for the moment, no vaccine or specific medication to deal with it, only treatments to relieve the symptoms. Its transmission is human-to-human, via close and prolonged contact.
Why is ivermectin making a comeback in the United States? For the American media, everything is due to the distrust of health experts which has spread during the Covid-19 crisis. During the pandemic, the contradictory discourses, the groping progress of the authorities and the spread of fake news have considerably changed the population’s perception of public health recommendations.
Donald Trump himself played a major part in eroding this trust. Even as his administration accelerated the development of a Covid-19 vaccine, he publicly promoted unproven treatments like hydroxychloroquine, further politicizing the debates.
With the Trump 2.0 version, this distrust could unfortunately increase. For his second term, the President of the United States notably placed as Secretary of Health and Human Services of the United States, as well as at the head of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a certain Robert F. Kennedy Jr. An anti-vaccine activist and defender of the use of ivermectin against Covid-19.
Worse, since the pandemic, certain states led by Republicans have constantly sought to expand access to ivermectin. In early May 2026, the South Carolina House of Representatives passed legislation to this effect, to authorize the sale of ivermectin without a prescription. The text must now be considered by the State Senate.
