Episode 209: Awareness vs. Alarm: Making Sense of the Headlines

Osterholm Update

CIDRAP

Science

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2026

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In Episode 209, Dr. Michael Osterholm and Chris Dall talk through the response to the hantavirus outbreak and the lingering questions about how the virus spreads. They also discuss a recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the latest findings from The Vaccine Integrity Project’s comprehensive review of peer-reviewed evidence on Tdap vaccination during pregnancy. Links: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGMmgMke9p8">Hantavirus Is Not the Next Covid, But Try Telling That to the News Media </a>(The Daily Show) <a href="https://vaxintegrity.cidrap.umn.edu/sites/default/files/FINAL%20REPORT%20Tdap%20Vaccine%20in%20Pregnancy%20Evidence%20Review.pdf">Safety and Effectiveness of Tdap Vaccination During Pregnancy Report </a>(Vaccine Integrity Project) <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/anti-science/aluminum-vaccines-not-linked-autism-other-health-problems-study-finds">Aluminum in vaccines not linked to autism, other health problems, study finds</a> (CIDRAP)   Resources for vaccine and public health advocacy: <a href="https://www.voicesforvaccines.org/get-involved/">Voices for Vaccines</a> <a href="https://familiesfightingflu.org/take-action/">Families Fighting Flu</a> <a href="https://vaccinateyourfamily.org/get-involved/">Vaccinate Your Family</a> <a href="https://shotatlife.org/take-action/">Shot@Life</a> <a href="https://aspr.hhs.gov/MRC/Pages/index.aspx">Medical Reserve Corps</a> Learn more about the <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/vaccine-integrity-project">Vaccine Integrity Project</a> <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/covid-19/osterholm-update-covid-19">MORE EPISODES</a>       <a href="https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/support-cidrap">SUPPORT THIS PODCAST</a>   Music: "Beauty Flow" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the Oström Update, a podcast about infectious diseases and public health,
0:13.8	featuring Dr. Michael Osterholm.
0:17.0	Dr. Ostrome is an internationally recognized medical detective and director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, or Sidrap, at the University of Minnesota.
0:26.7	In this podcast, Dr. Ostrome draws an over 50 years of experience in infectious disease epidemiology to provide straight talk on the latest infectious disease outbreaks,
0:40.6	counter misinformation and disinformation about vaccines,
0:46.0	and distill the complex and ever-evolving public health threats facing our world.
0:49.5	I'm Chris Dahl, reporter for Sidrapp News,
1:00.4	and I'm your host for these conversations. Welcome back, everyone, to another episode of the Osterholm Update podcast.
1:04.4	At the time of the recording of this podcast, there have been 11 reported cases of
1:08.7	hauntavirus and three deaths linked to the Dutch cruise ship M.V.
1:12.6	Hondias.
1:14.3	122 guests and crew aboard the ship have been evacuated, including 16 Americans, who are currently in the National Quarantine Unit at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
1:23.9	Follow-up and contact tracing for all contexts of Hanta virus cases linked to the ship is ongoing.
1:29.4	The situation appears to be well-contained, and both the World Health Organization and the
1:33.6	Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have characterized the public health risk posed by
1:37.9	the Honta virus outbreak as low. But for some, even those who recognize that Hontovirus
1:43.2	is not the next COVID, the episode is nonetheless raising questions about the ability of health officials to respond to potentially larger and more serious outbreaks.
1:52.4	Here's what David Wallace Wells of the New York Times wrote last week.
1:56.4	This does not appear to be the superbug of your nightmares, capable of spreading rapidly across
2:01.1	the world and killing far more efficiently than that pandemic ever did.
2:05.6	But hauntavirus infection does have a terrifyingly high mortality rate.
2:09.6	It is spreading from human to human, and health officials around the world have proved
	...

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