00:00That's so cute!
00:02No, I'm going to touch it.
00:05I'm going to touch it.
00:07I'm going to touch it.
00:07A young hiker's video has gone viral
00:10for all the wrong reasons after she
00:12filmed herself petting a wild rodent
00:14in the middle of a hantavirus hotspot.
00:16Marina Korb happily
00:17picks up the small creature during the clip,
00:19which she filmed in Argentina's Andean
00:22Patagonia region, and gushes
00:24about how cute and soft it is.
00:26But the video sparked backlash
00:28from viewers, who pointed out that
00:29the rodent native to the area, the
00:31long-tailed pygmy rice rat, is
00:33known to spread hantavirus
00:35and that the fact that the animal was so willing
00:37to be toyed with could point to illness.
00:40The area in question has been
00:41on the public's radar since it was reported
00:43that passengers on the MV
00:45Hondias hantavirus-infected cruise ship
00:47had traveled through Argentina.
00:50The Ande strain, which developed
00:51in the location, can be spread via
00:53person-to-person transmission.
00:55In response, Marina said the video
00:57had been filmed a year earlier
00:59and that, I didn't know that was the long-tailed
01:01mouse that carries the virus.
01:02I just saw a very cute little fellow
01:04and only that night I found out that people
01:06had died that week from an outbreak right there.
01:09Spoiler, I survived,
01:11she added, according to Newsflash.
01:13That little mouse didn't have anything,
01:15but don't do this at home.
01:17She's not the first traveler to be seared
01:19on social media for touching a wild animal
01:21that could pose harm,
01:23like an Irish tourist in Australia
01:25who was lucky not to be bitten by this
01:27highly venomous octopus.
01:33Or a British man who also unknowingly
01:35handled a blue-ringed octopus,
01:37which happens to be one of the deadliest animals
01:39in the world, while vacationing
01:41in the Philippines.
01:42There's a baby octopus, it's beautiful,
01:45look at all that blue.
01:47All a good reminder,
01:48just because it's pretty or cute
01:50doesn't mean it's a good idea to pet it,
01:52pick it up, or even attempt a selfie.
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