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ago by Titan (27.7k points)
edited ago by
So, if I understand, if ''Hanta'' in Hebrew literallty means SCAM, LIES, FAKE, then Hantavirus literally means scam, lies or fakevirus.

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ago by Newbie (220 points)

I found that "Hanta" has no direct translation in Hebrew and that the claim is false. The virus is actually named after the Hantan River in South Korea, near where the virus was first found. 

I google translated the word "Hanta" to Hebrew in Google Translate and not a single word came up in Hebrew. https://translate.google.com/?sl=iw&tl=en&text=hanta&op=translate

I found a peer-reviewed, NIH-supported scientific article that describes the origin of the name of the virus being due to a small field rodent that lives near the Hantan River in South Korea. The virus was found and named in the 50's and 60's during the Korean War as many soldiers were infected with the virus.  https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2880890/

I believe that both of my sources have very minimal chance for bias as both have been peer-reviewed by many people.

Something that could've led to this claim and others like it is due to a confusion with the modern Israeli slang meaning "scam" or "B.S.": Kharta/Khanta. It sounds and looks similar to Hanta when written in English letters, however it has nothing to do with the official naming of the virus. 
 

Bluesky user did not respond to questions regarding their claim. 

False

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