Heartbreak & Hantavirus - Episode 52
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Yeah, I was protecting myself just in case I touched mouse doo-doo and then touched my face.
You don't sound mature when you word it that way.
Or maybe mouse tee-tee and then touch my face.
All right, it's episode 52 of the Musers, the podcast. I'm Gordon, joined by my friend George. Say hi, George. Oh, hi, everybody. I'm George. Joined by our other friend, because we only have two friends. Each of us only has two friends. That's it. That's the other two guys. Our other friend, Craig. Hi, I'm Craig. And I'm Buffett. And Muffin joins us. Muffin is a little puppet that's a raccoon? Gopher? Uh, I'm not sure.
What are you, Muffin? You don't know what you are.
No.
they no one ever told you no they said put on this costume did they did they ever dna test you and like you tested 23 and me you're like 50 puppet 50 raccoon nope i couldn't tell you okay well i'll quit wasting your time no no i you're you're welcome to join us for the whole episode geez beating join us for the whole episode all right before we get into today's very very important topic we do have to do a little letter of the week from the listeners who can email us at themuserspod at gmail.com.
By the way, are you okay? No.
I'm playing hurt because I think I may be hanted up. Yeah, you know, I wouldn't have thought about it. When was hantavirus? When was that big scare? Like in the 90s?
Last year?
No, no. When we first became aware of hantavirus. I don't remember the first big scare.
That was last year for me. I didn't hear about it until...
You had a hantavirus scare last year?
No, but isn't that what got Gene Hackman's wife? That's when it first really made the rounds for me. I don't remember one in the 90s.
Well, yes. I thought a whole new generation became aware of it when hantavirus thinned out the Hackman household. But when we were starting this job in radio, I remember Hantavirus was making a huge debut. And people were warning about Hantavirus is really spreading.
Hantavirus is something you get from rat feces and mouse droppings.
And recently I was cleaning out an area that had some rodent activity. That's the euphemism we use for a rodent bombing zone. We say we did see some rodent activity.
And the way to clean it is just to get a shop back and...
Vacuum it up, right? Well, this is the thing. I was real worried about this because I did this and I knew there was a scare of it because I had Gene Hackman's widow in mind. Because she died last year of it. And so as I'm cleaning this, I'm like concerned, but I'm also really tired. So I'm like, I don't want to go to the store and buy a K95 mask or whatever. So I'll just pull the T-shirt up over my mouth. That's the worst mask. And I used a vacuum cleaner to vacuum this stuff up. And it was a vacuum cleaner that has a HEPA filter, a series of HEPA filters on it. So it's not supposed to, you know, it's supposed to filter everything out as it exhausts back into the air.
But this is like a nice vacuum cleaner that you use on your home.
It is, George.
So you shouldn't reuse that, should you, in your home?
Well, I'll put another bag in it.
Okay. Still pretty hanted up.
I wouldn't use it. So I'm getting all worried about it because I started feeling... sick the past couple days you know you can hear my voice is a little scratchy i'm really tired but i can't really distinguish whether i'm tired because i'm hanted or because i've been working in such heat for long hours and not drinking enough water probably it yes that will do it So I was all worried about it this morning. I mentioned it to our other friend Craig, you know, and you told the story that you had recently done the same thing and you were even more risky than I was with it.
Yes, I got a shop vac and vacuumed out an exterior closet and a porch area, a lot of rat droppings or mouse droppings. And I did wear gloves, but I did not wear a mask.
You didn't wear the T-shirt, the bandit, the cheap bank robbery. Yeah, gloves is good.
Am I at risk of hantavirus after cleaning up rodent droppings?
Disguise.
And afterwards I regretted because I knew that I was stirring all of that up and it was going into the air and I was probably breathing in.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–4:47
2
Am I at risk of hantavirus after cleaning up rodent droppings?
4:47–8:00
3
What precautions did the hosts take when vacuuming rodent-infested areas?
8:00–20:21
4
How do hantavirus symptoms and person-to-person risk actually work?
20:21–30:20
5
Why did the hosts debate wearing masks, HEPA filters, and gloves?
30:20–31:50
6
How did a night out and paying for bottled water spark a conversation about tap water?
31:50–38:51
7
Why do modern appliances and cars feel less reliable than older models?
38:51–56:54