The Naked Scientist: Hantavirus explained, coffee side effects and time zones unpacked

Relebogile Mabotja hosts The Naked Scientist · 4 May 2026 · 15m

Speaker 1: The Naked Scientists. Speaker 2: Twenty minutes two three o'clock Time for the Naked Scientists with doctor Chris Smith O Speaker 2: double one three oh seven O two and the whatsap line Oh seven two seven Speaker 2: O two one seven oh two. Speaker 1: We missed you, doctor Chris. Oh, we missed you too. Speaker 3: Of course you had bank holiday last week, yes, and we've got bank holiday this Speaker 3: week. So I'm turning up on my bank holiday in order to struck my stuff. Speaker 3: And in fact, you know, John was just talking there about hand to virus. Really Speaker 3: story, this isn't it that we've got these individuals on this boat. This is the Speaker 3: weird thing. This virus is actually from small rodents like rats and mice. Usually it's Speaker 3: a species of mouse that carries the Hanta virus that we associate with severe human Speaker 3: respiratory disease. Now, I wouldn't expect them to be living on that boat. So one Speaker 3: wonders whether the people actually were ashore somewhere and came into contact with the virus Speaker 3: there, and that's how they picked it up. Because there is an incubation period of Speaker 3: a week or so, so it would put their exposure earlier back in their journey, Speaker 3: and that the people who've now succumbed or become very unwell have reached the end Speaker 3: of the incubation period, and now we have to wait and see if anyone else Speaker 3: was exposed, because we should start to see more cases if we're going to see Speaker 3: them. Speaker 2: Should we, or rather, at what point should alarm bell start ringing for everyday South

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