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Fact check: COVID-19 caused by a virus, not snake venom

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The claim: COVID-19 caused by snake venom, not by a virus

Conspiracy theories about COVID-19 have swirled since it first appeared at the end of 2019, but social media users have taken the claims to new heights. 

“Corona was NEVER a virus,” read an April 12 Facebook post that was shared more than 50 times within two weeks. “(It) is Cobra venom.”

The theory has spread widely in the wake of a documentary called “Watch the Water,” which claims that COVID-19 is actually snake venom that is contracted through drinking water, vaccines and remdesivir, a Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for the virus. The film has racked up hundreds of thousands of views since it was released on April 11. 

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But this is nonsense.

Researchers around the world have confirmed COVID-19 is caused by a virus spread mainly through close contact with other people. Vaccines and treatments used to combat the virus have publicly-available ingredient lists, none of which indicate venomous additives.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who posted the claim for comment. 

Vials labeled COVID-19 vaccine.

Venom theory is ‘not consistent with any medical knowledge,’ expert says

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, a coronavirus discovered in 2019. The virus spreads primarily from person to person through respiratory droplets.

The World Health Organization and John Hopkins Medicine are among the countless organizations that have confirmed the same as researchers around the globe worked to study COVID-19 and develop vaccines and treatments.

Dr. Frank LoVecchio, medical director of Arizona State University’s College of Health Solutions, said the claim that the virus is snake venom is “absurd” and “not consistent with any medical knowledge, any medical fact, any medical journal.” 

The claim that the virus is snake venom has been debunked by various outlets including FactCheck.org, PolitiFact and Lead Stories. 

LoVecchio, who previously served as co-medical director of Banner Poison and Drug Information Center and has spent years studying snakes, told USA TODAY that he searched peer-reviewed studies to find where the claim could come from.

The only correlation he could find, he said, is that levels of Phospholipase A2 may be elevated in both COVID-19 and snakebite patients. However, LoVecchio added that Phospholipase A2 is a “very, very nonspecific marker of inflammation” and that elevated levels can occur in various other circumstances, such as an ankle sprain or heart attack.

“Yes, it’s a virus,” LoVecchio said of COVID-19.

He added there are “zero chances” snake venom is in the COVID-19 vaccine. 

Ingredient lists for each of the FDA-approved or authorized COVID-19 vaccines are available on the CDC’s website. Remdesivir has been tested and approved for treatment of COVID-19 by the FDA, which lists its ingredients on its website. 

Fact check: Fauci’s 2004 comments on flu vaccine, natural immunity taken out of context

The origin of the virus has been hard to pinpoint. U.S. intelligence agencies have said they won’t be able to definitively conclude whether the virus was spread by animal-to-human transmission or leaked from a lab, the Associated Press reported in October 2021. But no legitimate scientific organizations say COVID-19 is anything but a virus.

Documentary creators have history of COVID-19 misinformation

The snake venom claims stem from “Watch the Water,” an interview between far-right radio show host Stew Peters and Bryan Ardis, a former chiropractor. In the film, Ardis says mRNA is being extracted from king cobra venom and put into humans in order to “make you a hybrid of Satan,” according to PolitiFact, which gave the claims a “Pants on Fire” rating.

The documentary’s title is a nod to the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, which hinges on the belief that a “deep state” apparatus operated by political, business and entertainment elites was working to undermine then-President Donald Trump. 

Both men involved have a history of disseminating misinformation about COVID-19.

Ardis falsely claimed in 2021 that COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers had the ability to change vaccine formulas following their initial rollout while they were under an emergency use authorization. And false claims that the COVID-19 vaccines are magnetic were pushed on The Stew Peters Show in 2021.

Our rating: False 

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that COVID-19 is caused by snake venom. The theory is not consistent with existing medical knowledge, which is that COVID-19 is caused by a virus spread mainly through close contact with other people. The false claim was taken from a recently-released documentary that is tied to the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, and its hosts have previously spread misinformation surrounding COVID-19.

Our fact-check sources: 

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Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. 

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This article has been archived for your research. The original version from USA TODAY can be found here.

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