# Infodemic

> An overabundance of information, accurate or false, accompanying a health crisis. A concept popularised by the WHO that hampers public access to reliable sources.

Canonical source: https://hantatracker.fr/en/glossary/infodemic/

**Aliases**: infodémie, health disinformation, information overload, health fake news

An **infodemic** is the **overabundance of information** — accurate and false alike — that accompanies a health crisis and makes it hard for the public to identify reliable sources. The term, a blend of "information" and "epidemic", was popularised by the [WHO](/en/glossary/who/) during COVID-19. The MV Hondius hantavirus episode offers a fresh illustration.

## A phenomenon that doubles the outbreak

When an infectious cluster makes the news, public attention spikes: online searches, videos, discussion threads. This demand for information also attracts rumours, conspiracy theories and over-readings, which often spread **faster** than verified information. The WHO speaks of an "infodemic" because this spread, too, follows an epidemic-like dynamic.

## The hantavirus case

**France Info's Vrai ou Fake** fact-checking unit documented, on 16 May 2026, a **recycling** of COVID-era hoaxes applied to hantavirus. Four drivers, all debunked:

- the **Bill Gates scapegoat**, accused of "predicting" the outbreak;
- accusations against **"Big Pharma"**, suspected of "staging" an outbreak for profit;
- **reassurance rhetoric** denouncing a "media-political panic";
- **antisemitic theories**, including the false claim that "hanta" means "scam" in Hebrew (the word actually comes from the **Hantan River** in Korea).

## Informing without feeding the rumour

The antidote, per the WHO and fact-checkers, is not silence but **informing with restraint**: cite primary sources, draw a clear line between facts and hypotheses, refuse sensationalism, and correct false information without amplifying it. That is precisely this site's editorial stance.

For more, see our breakdown [hantavirus and the COVID reflex: same fears, same hoaxes](/en/articles/hantavirus-covid-reflex-fear-disinformation/).