An alarming health situation has unfolded on the MV Hondius cruise ship sailing across the South Atlantic, putting several countries on alert.
The cases began with a few instances of fever and respiratory illness and have now taken a disastrous turn into confirmed hantavirus infections, suspected cases, and several deaths.
On one side, the hantavirus outbreak has created panic among people; on the other hand, some online claims have emerged that hantavirus was predicted by The Simpsons in an episode back in 2012.
The Simpsons Predicted Hantavirus in 2012
According to viral claims, The Simpsons predicted the hantavirus outbreak. The claim refers to Season 23, Episode 19, titled "A Totally Fun Thing Bart Will Never Do Again."
In the episode, the character Bart fakes a pandemic so that he can board a cruise ship.
This episode is going viral on the internet, with claims that The Simpsons predicted the hantavirus outbreak. The claim also mentions that 23 people who left the cruise ship MV Hondius continue to sail despite people getting sick and a death. That Simpsons episode also depicts a ship moored in the ocean due to a global outbreak.
The numbers strengthen this theory, as people are pointing out that 23 is the number of human chromosomes and 19 is the number linked to viral symbolism in conspiracy culture. These two numbers are the season number and episode number of The Simpsons that allegedly predicted the outbreak.
Why the Simpsons' Claims Have Flaws
In the episode, the character Bart faked a pandemic so that he could prolong his vacation. Secondly, there was no direct mention of hantavirus in the episode. They merely called it a Pandoravirus.
Apart from this, the episode showed a virus outbreak around the world and not on the ship.
In the real case, the hantavirus outbreak started on the MV Hondius cruise ship, and people are being monitored on the ship for the possibility of illness. It is not the case that the whole world is sick due to the virus. Hence, it is almost clear that The Simpsons' prediction of the hantavirus outbreak is not true.
Did The Simpsons Mention Hantavirus in a Previous Episode?
Keeping all claims aside, The Simpsons did mention hantavirus in one of its episodes, i.e., Season 11, Episode 6 - "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder."
In that episode, Bart Simpson, his mother Marge Simpson, and his sister Lisa Simpson were watching TV, and a clown on the TV mentions the hantavirus outbreak at the 6-minute mark, from 6:38 to 6:40.
This episode was released in November 1999, after the hantavirus outbreak in the US in 1993.
Who Else Predicted the Hantavirus Outbreak?
Mysterious Tweet
An eerie tweet predicting the outbreak of the 2026 rat-borne cruise ship virus is shaking the internet, as social media users have hailed the soothsayer as a "time traveller."
In June 2022, a tweet was posted on X (formerly known as Twitter), where a person with the username soothsayer shared a tweet mentioning the year of hantavirus.
In her viral post, the person wrote: "2023: Corona ended. 2026: Hantavirus." Keeping the hantavirus news in mind, people hailed the soothsayer as a "time traveller." The tweet has millions of views and close to 400K likes.
Bill Gates' Pandemic Predictions
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has also shared several warnings, stating that the next pandemic could be much worse than Covid-19. In one of his interviews, Gates mentioned that governments should think ahead on behalf of citizens.
"So with a pandemic, there's a lot you should be doing, but hopefully we'll get our act together before the next one comes," he added.