Maire Treasa Ni Cheallaigh

God help us now if you're relying on me to know about very rare infectious diseases may be sourced in Patagonia.

We'll put it this way.

I was a student of RCSI and Sam McConkie was one of my Moontory back in the day.

And we did have to do a module in tropical medicine.

And honestly, for those of us operating in Ireland, it was very much like, oh, Jesus, we just have to get through this and pass it to go to the next.

And then it became something like an MCQ where you're like, what was that little virus that he mentioned somewhere far, far away to maybe get yourself up into the very high marks?

Which is logical because you tend to focus on the things that are common to you.

Yeah.

Like I remember going through microbiology stuff and they'll be saying the world is due a pandemic.

It's coming.

It's coming.

Like, ah, yeah.

And it came.

But to be honest with this, I think the thing with this hantavirus, what might be really interesting is, as Brenda was describing there, how it might have actually may have come from Patagonia.

People there might actually be very grateful that some rich Westerners may have picked this up and now they may actually help deal with it because we would never have heard of it if it wasn't for the fact that people from Europe suddenly started getting sick and dying on this ship.

Would I be less worried that these people are going to cause a spread?

Absolutely.

But if we thought it was in one place and actually turns out, oh, it turns out it was spreading pretty easily, the birthday party in Patagonia, that's when you have to really hope that people like the WHO and all them are on this and trying to stamp it out.

Well, as a doctor who firmly plays in the Championship and not in the Premier League, I will say that.

I went on one once, never again.