00:00EU ambassadors will be getting together today for the very first time to come up with a joint plan
00:05for containing the spread of the deadly hantavirus. For an expert opinion, we can bring in now
00:10Professor Luke O'Neill from Trinity College in Dublin. Good morning, Luke O'Neill. Normally,
00:16I tell my guests, lovely to have you with us, but in this case, when I see you, it's normally
00:19for bad news. But just tell us, we're hearing the World Health Organization says there's no risk
00:24to the general population. And the hantavirus is not like COVID-19. What is your view here?
00:31That's exactly correct. Yeah, it's not like COVID at all. It's a different virus,
00:35different disease, of course. Very rare, this disease, the hantavirus causes overall,
00:39extremely rare. You know, unfortunately, of course, this outbreak on that cruise ship has happened.
00:44Now, we need a bit of caution because it's got a high mortality is one worry. 40% people
00:48might die of this, but it's extremely rare. So there's nothing to worry about at the moment,
00:52as long as we contain it properly, of course, is the key thing.
00:55As long as we can contain it properly. But people are alarmed because the headlines
00:58are alarming, bringing us back to those days of COVID. What would your advice to people be?
01:05Don't worry. Don't worry at all at the moment. I mean, let's just keep an eye on it. And all
01:09the
01:09great and the good, the CDC in the US, of course, in Europe as well, our agencies are keeping a
01:14very
01:14close eye on this. I mean, clearly, it's a bit scary, given the level of mortality that we've seen
01:19reported. People have died of this virus. It's extremely rare. Remember,
01:22in Argentina, about 100 cases per year out of a population of about 40 million. That's how rare
01:28it is as a disease, you know. But again, it's something to watch. Our initial fear was the
01:32virus might have changed. It might have been worse. That's not the case. It's the Andes strain
01:37of Hanta. And it's been seen for years and years. So we know a fair bit about this.
01:41We do. And of course, more cases are expected after the long isolation periods. And EU ambassadors
01:46will be gathering today here in Brussels for the very first time to discuss this. But of course,
01:50as you say, it's not an emergency. But what would your advice be to those politicians in the room
01:55today? Well, one good thing is it is a real disease in South America. So we may learn more
02:01about it anyway from this incident that might help the situation in South America where it's more
02:06common. And the second thing is, of course, we need to be a little bit cautious. You can understand
02:09why they're meeting because it's all over the media. European citizens are concerned, of course.
02:14So anything we can do to reassure people is the most important thing, I feel. And at the moment,
02:18you're right, the funny thing about this virus is it can incubate in the body for 40 days.
02:22In other words, you can catch it, no symptoms for a week or two, hence the 42-day quarantine.
02:27There's two Irish people, many nationalities, stuck in quarantine for the next few weeks,
02:32just in case the disease emerges. And that makes perfect sense to keep an eye on these people.
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