Influencers and others on social media have seized on the hantavirus outbreak to revive disinformation that sowed distrust during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some users on the social platform X have called the outbreak, which began on a Dutch cruise ship and was first reported to the World Health Organization this month, a hoax designed to influence a new round of elections in the United States, or have falsely claimed that hantavirus is a side effect of the COVID vaccine. Others have warned about the possibility of lockdowns and vaccines, despite the fact that there has been no discussion of such measures and there’s no widely available shot on the market. The claims have been viewed millions of times on X, TikTok and other platforms, according to researchers who track content online. “The conspiracy theories from COVID-19 never really died,” said Yotam Ophir, who studies misinformation and conspiracy theories at the University at Buffalo.…