AI-generated rat video falsely linked to hantavirus

Amid concerns over the May 2026 hantavirus outbreak on a cruise ship, a video showing dozens of rats leaping from a moving truck has been widely shared on social media, falsely claiming it depicts deliberate disease spread. AFP analysis found the clip is fabricated—likely created using OpenAI’s Sora 2—and a similar version had been circulating since March.

"Dashcam catches dozens of RATS exploding out of a hole in a semi-trailer at highway speed like a horror movie," says a May 10 post on X, News.Az reports, citing AFP.

"Deliberate release? Population control? Or something worse... hantavirus carriers being dropped into cities? WHO literally warned about this."

The video shows a semi-truck driving down a highway. The rear of the trailer has a hole cut into it, out of which dozens of giant rats are seen pouring onto the road, moving in a single-file line at rapid speed.

The same clip circulated in various languages across platforms including X, Reddit and Instagram as an outbreak on a cruise ship sailing the Atlantic Ocean focused attention on the rare disease.

Hantavirus is usually spread from infected rodents, typically through urine, droppings and saliva. The Andes strain, which spread onboard the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius cruise ship and resulted in the deaths of three passengers, is the only known variant to pass between humans.

The World Health Organization has warned that more cases could still emerge following the evacuation of all the ship's passengers, but it stressed there "is no sign that we are seeing the start of a larger outbreak."

Among the living, eight people have been confirmed to have hantavirus, including a French woman in critical condition. 

The scare led to an online surge in conspiracy theories alleging the outbreak was part of a planned epidemic or depopulation campaign, echoing the baseless narratives that flourished during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The clip of rats jumping out of a moving truck also has no basis in reality.

An AI detection tool pointed to the use of the artificial intelligence, and AFP identified visual irregularities typical of the technology.

News.Az 

By Ulviyya Salmanli