TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A claim circulating on Instagram [archive] and Facebook on May 16, 2026, stated that Hantavirus' emergence was planned and documented in the Epstein Files.
The post included a poster depicting Jeffrey Epstein, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin. Gates was said to have developed a vaccine to combat Hantavirus.
However, was it true that Hantavirus was pre-planned and listed in the Epstein Files?
FACT CHECK
Tempo verified the claim using an AI image detector and compared the narrative with information from credible sources. The results showed that the Hantavirus was not a product of human engineering, nor was it listed in the Epstein File.
The Epstein Files are a collection of official documents resulting from an investigation by United States law enforcement officials, including the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI. These documents expose child sexual abuse and human trafficking perpetrated by Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire who died in a New York prison on August 10, 2019.
Authorities released more than 3.5 million pages of these documents to the public on December 19, 2025. The documents include flight records, phone books, digital forensic evidence on hundreds of thousands of photos and videos, FBI records, and grand jury transcripts. Several world figures are implicated in these documents, including Donald Trump, Prince Andrew, Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton, and Elon Musk.
Tempo scoured the Epstein Library section of the US Department of Justice's website for the keyword "hanta." The results were zero. Not a single document contained the word.
Hantavirus Emerged Before Epstein Was Born
Medical investigations into the Hantavirus began after the Korean War in 1951-1953. At that time, an outbreak of dengue fever, or hemorrhagic fever, affected more than 3,000 United Nations troops. South Korean virologist Lee Ho-wang suspected the outbreak originated in rodents.
Lee eventually identified the virus from a rat caught near the Hantan River in the northern Gangwon and Gyeonggi Provinces. He named it Hantaanvirus—now known as Hantavirus—and it belongs to the Bunyaviridae family.
Meanwhile, Jeffrey Epstein was born in 1953 in Brooklyn, New York. His legal record began in 2008 when he was charged with child prostitution. In 2018, he was again indicted for child sexual abuse between 2002 and 2005.
The US Attorney General's Office in Manhattan indicted Epstein in 2019. He was arrested on July 6, 2019, on charges of sex trafficking and conspiracy. After his bail request was denied, he was detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Manhattan. On August 10, 2019, Epstein was found dead in his cell. The coroner's office ruled his death a suicide.
No Vaccine Yet for Hantavirus
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that there is no specific licensed antiviral treatment or vaccine for Hantavirus infection. Medical treatment so far focuses on close clinical monitoring and managing complications in the respiratory system, heart, and kidneys.
The claim that Bill Gates is developing a Hantavirus vaccine is also baseless. Research into the vaccine is actually being carried out by a research team at the University of Bath, England. The project is led by Professor Asel Sartbaeva, a chemist and co-founder of the university's spin-off company, Ensilitech.
CONCLUSION
Tempo concludes that the narrative about plans to create a new pandemic using the Hantavirus outlined in the Epstein Files is false.
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