Brian Barrett: This is the first time I’ve thought about contact tracing in many years, and I was very happy not to think about it for a long time, because it’s a very complicated process and it’s a really difficult thing to do. Emily, given all that, what is the level of concern here, given what the World Health Organization and other organizations have said? It sounds cagey about it, but maybe time hasn’t scared me yet, but I defer to you because maybe I was trying to make myself feel better.
Emily Mullen: No, I think you’re right. The hantavirus expert I spoke with said there had been previous clusters of the Andean strain before, but no major outbreaks. These groups tend to have close, prolonged contact with people suffering from the disease. This virus doesn’t spread nearly as efficiently as other respiratory viruses we’re used to like coronavirus or influenza, for example. Hantavirus symptoms are usually very severe. So, this is not a virus, again, like Covid where a lot of people are walking around with the disease, spreading it asymptomatically without knowing about it. That’s at least a little comfort, although the flip side of that is that the disease is very serious. So the World Health Organization says the risk to the general public is currently low, and this may not be another Covid situation.
Brian BarrettLeah: How do we feel?
Leah Weiger:Not good, guys. I don’t know. are you kidding? How do you feel? Maybe this is my moment, “Are you with me yet?”
Brian Barrett: No, I was good, but then Emily hit it so hard in a way that suddenly made me feel more anxious.
Leah Weiger: Yes, it was more correct to swallow.
Emily Mullen: That was my editorial. The World Health Organization has not included the possibility.
Brian Barrett: Yes. What if they only have italics or big quotes? As if it was “probably” good.
Leah Weiger: I don’t know guys. I think firstly I’m fascinated that there are different strains of this. And that took me back very early on to the armchair scientists in early Covid who were saying, “No, no, no, this is perfectly fine.” So, for this to be officially announced, yes, this is the strain that can be transmitted between humans, and I think it’s notable to say the least. You got to give me that.
Brian Barrett: Oh, I think that’s true. And I guess my open questions are, how long do these people have to stay on this ship before everyone says, “Okay, you can go now,” or do they bring them back to shore and isolate them for a certain period of time? Contact tracing is worrying because once again I am having flashbacks. But I think the things you said, Emily, about how this is different from Covid in important ways in terms of how quickly it spreads, how easily it spreads, especially now that we have the mechanisms in place to do these contact tracing things, I would still not be too concerned.
