Viral Load
Episodes
RFK Jr.'s Tylenol Files
29 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIn this episode, Dr. Brett (PhD, Epidemiology) and Andy break down the viral claim by President Trump and RFK Jr. that Tylenol during pregn...
Polio Part 2: Managing Misinformation
01 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIn this episode, we tackle the dangers of celebrity-driven vaccine misinformation, focusing on figures like Alicia Silverstone, who may sti...
Polio Part 1: Paralysis Analysis
17 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIn this episode, we explore the concerning potential for the return of polio, a disease that once terrified the world before vaccines broug...
Hendra Virus: We can't stop here. This is bat country
10 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textAustralia's got a reputation for dangerous creatures, but Hendra takes it to a whole new level. This week, we dive into the bat-sh*t c...
The Real RFK Jr.: Department of Health and Human Services
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIn this episode, we venture boldly into the unsettling future of American healthcare as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. steps into the most controver...
Disease X: Navigating the Conspiracy Theory Maze
28 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textDive into the mystery of Disease X, the hypothetical pathogen poised to trigger the next global pandemic. Amidst a sea of conspiracy theori...
Origins of HIV/AIDS
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textDelve into the complex origins of HIV in our latest episode, unraveling the web of misinformation surrounding this global health crisis. Jo...
Epidemic Enigma: Bird Flu Prophesies & 5 Strange Diseases
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textDive into the ominous with some of the world's weirdest diseases. An is it finally the year of the Bird Flu? In this Viral Particle or...
Artificial Intelligence & Human Health: Rise of the Disease Machines
15 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIs it a system that creates a world where Instagram models and regular folks become indistinguishable . A revolutionary solution to blank p...
Time-Traveling Pathogens: Update from Siberia
18 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textThis week the guys jump back to a topic that started it all in 2019 (episode 1). We're talking zombie viruses and melting permafrost. ...
War in Ukraine: Cholera and Combat Mosquitoes
25 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIs Putin puttin' something in the water supply? Is Zelensky secretly an an evil mastermind using monster mosquitos to squash the Russi...
Viral Load Reviews The Last of Us
07 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textA fungal infection turning the entire human race into mushroom headed zombies...of course the guys from Viral Load are all in. On this ep...
Bird Flu Outbreak: Pandemic Predictions
27 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWhile we may not have a Delorean or a magic crystal ball; Brett is a doctor of epidemiology, an astronomy aficionado and now perhaps able t...
TB Sniffing Rodents: HeroRATS
17 Jan 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textThis week the guys take you on a trip down the rat hole. They discuss the incredibly accurate TB sniffing rats and how humans began domesti...
RSV and the Tripledemic
20 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWhat's that? The holidays are just around the corner. Well Brett and Andy have got just the topic for discussion around the ol' d...
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch and Frozen Zombie Viruses
13 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textSame old new years resolutions and brand new set of terrifying disease predictions. This episode is a viral particle or mini-sode where Bre...
Fecal Transplants Part 2 : Golden Soup
04 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIt's finally arrived the long awaited sequel to our foray into fecal fodder. Do you or someone you love have gastrointestinal distress...
Fecal Transplants Part 1 : The Microbiome
30 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWandering through the fecal fodder of 2022 has at times felt like a flummoxing failure. The good news is on this episode of Viral Load we...
Monkeypox Rave 2022
20 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textPlanning to hit up your local rave? You may want to hold off on dropping the beat until you listen to this week's episode. We discuss ...
Rabies: Destroy the Brain
15 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Send a text On this episode we cover why that possum is really chasing it's tail, if you should invite those pesky raccoons into your home for s...
Omicron Persei 8: A Variant of Concern
09 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWhat happens when anti-vaxxers, a promiscuous virus, and maybe some infected rodents get together? A new episode of Viral Load Podcast, of ...
Viral Particle: May the Quartz be with You
15 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWhy would a rare tropical disease outbreak emerge in America’s heartland? Get your crystals out and make sure your chakras are aligned, b...
Monkeypox: Furious George
07 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWe are back from the grave for this halloween episode. On the 2 year anniversary of Viral Load we dive into the wonderful world of monkeypo...
Revenge of the Variants: Delta, Lambda, Omega-Mu
16 Aug 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send a text"The Variants They Are A-Changin' " - Bob Dylan & SARS-CoV-2. What happens when an RNA virus meets an unevenly vaccinate...
The Bird Flu Cometh
25 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textMove over COVID, there’s a new sheriff in town. While the COVID-19 continues to garner international attention, strains of avian influenz...
Hansen's Disease (Leprosy): MMMBop
17 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textLeprosy probably brings to mind skin falling from the bone and people cast away into quarantined colonies. It is among the most stigmatized...
COVID-19: Pandemic Origins
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textThe search continues for the origins of the virus that causes COVID-19—and the pathway that it took to leap from animals to humans, resul...
Viral Particle: Stay Out of the Forest
22 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textBrett and Andy dive into the hot topics in the world of diseases for this viral particle (minisode). In an homage to the My Favorite Murder...
Transmitted Infections Part 2: Interview with a Love Doctor
02 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn part 2 of our STI saga we sat down with occupational therapist and real life love doctor Karen McCarthy PhD. We discuss dating in the ag...
Sexually Transmitted Infections Part 1: Consider the Merkin
22 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIn the words of the late Charles Bukowski, "Sex is kicking death in the ass while singing." Join us as we embark on a journey of ...
Tuberculosis: Consumption Gumption
01 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textTuberculosis is one of the deadliest diseases in the world infecting over 100 Million people annually. Every episode we end by asking lis...
Vaccination Station: Herd immunity, Misinformation, and the next pandemic
18 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOut with the old and in with the new! The 2020 dumpster fire is over and COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out. So, only one question remains: ...
Chronic Kidney Disease Part 2: A Survivor's perspective
14 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textThis week we're continuing our nephrotic odyssey with a special interview with a kidney failure survivor and recent kidney transplant ...
Chronic Kidney Disease Part 1: Nephrons, Ship Breakers, and Transplant Tourism
07 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWe’re dipping our toes in the sea of non-communicable diseases. Join us as we venture into the surprisingly strange world of chronic kidn...
Pilgrim Pathogens: The Diseases of Thanksgiving
04 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWe may not all agree on side dishes or which dessert is best, but the one thing we do know: Thanksgiving and diseases go together like turk...
You Died of Dysentery: Diseases of the Oregon Trail (game)
23 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textTake a trip down memory road (or trail?) with us. We're discussing the disease-riddled icon computer lab mainstay, 'The Oregon Tr...
Viral Particle: Saved by the Bell
02 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWe know what you're thinking "2020 has been less than optimal". Well try and find solace in the fact that you aren’t wak...
Halloween Special: Dracula Origins and Walking Corpses
26 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIn honor of Halloween, we’ve put together a spooktacular sampler of some of the diseases that are the real reason for the season! First, ...
Brain Eating Amoebas
19 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textI know what your thinking 2020 has been a piece of cake and you have nothing to worry about. Well you're in luck this week we dive int...
Mr. COVID Goes to Washington
14 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textCOVID-19 knows no bounds! After prancing around Parliament with Boris Johnson COVID decided to hit the big time and took a romp in the Whit...
Viral Particle : Bring Out Your Dead
28 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWhat is the Million Death Study? How has Africa navigated COVID-19 relatively unscathed and for God’s sake can someone give us some Happy...
Tis the Season...for Twindemics
23 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWhat is the flu? What does the flu do? Are there any flu socks? Is anyone listening to me? What happens when the world is up in flames, a P...
Viral Particle: Vultures and the Shadow Pandemic
14 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this Viral Particle minisode, we discuss the drastic rise in domestic violence globally since the shutdown and we celebrate vultures, th...
West Nile Virus: Counting Crows
07 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textAre birds real? Do crows really remember faces? How hard is a Sentinal chicken's day at work? And what the hell does any of that have ...
Viral Particle: Socks on Fire
27 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textEarthquakes, Hurricanes, COVID, and now wild fires. 2020 you're incorrigible. On this viral particle we check in on the California wil...
Nipah: The Worst Disease Nobody's Heard Of
19 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWhat is the worst disease no one has ever heard of? Nipah! Ever heard of it? Join Andy and Brett as they discuss the Nipah virus, the inspi...
COVID-19: Operation Warp Speed!
11 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIt's been 8 months since the first case of the virus formally known as the Novel Coronavirus was found in Wuhan China. That number has...
Viral Particle: The Runaways
05 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWhat do you get when you cross totalitarianism with a pandemic? If you guessed "one helluva story", we owe you a La Croix! COVID-...
Naughty By Nature
28 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textRemember to stop and smell the roses. Unless of course those roses are in fact Oleanders, Love Beans, Corpse Flowers, or any number of vege...
Viral Particle: The Others
21 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a text2020 the year of COVID-19, Murder Hornets, locust swarms, social injustice and...it's not over yet. What if we told you the death toll...
Astrovirology: Mars Attacks?
15 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIs there life on Mars? On this episode follow Brett and Andy down the black hole of Astrovirology. The guys discuss what extraterrestrial l...
COVID-19: Socks And Bonds
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIt's COVID-19 update time! This week, Brett and Andy bring in economist and friend of the show Austin Myers to discuss the economic im...
Schistosomiasis: Dam Snails
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textSchistosomiasis where we're going we don't need dams! On this episode of Viral Load the guys wade into the world of Neglected Tro...
The Dancing Plague
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textDance, dance, dance until you die! No this isn't Hocus Pocus, this is 1518 and the dancing plague has overtaken Strasbourg. What cause...
COVID-19: America's Pre-existing Condition
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this episode of Viral Load Brett and Andy take a closer look into racial inequality in the united states amidst a global pandemic. The g...
Viral Particle: Corpse Medicine & Gladiator Juice
25 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this Viral Particle mini-sode Brett and Andy take on Quackery through the ages as well as a rare feel good story from a Sudanese refugee...
1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic: Now and Then
18 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn part 2 of our "mother of all pandemics" mini-series, Brett and Andy look for parallels between the social and political respon...
1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic: The Mother of All Pandemics
11 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this week's episode Brett and Andy visit the mother of all pandemics. The 1918 Flu pandemic commonly known as the "Spanish Flu...
COVID-19: From the Front Lines
04 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this Episode of Viral Load Brett and Andy take an inside look into working on the front lines and the different approaches countries hav...
COVID-19: New Normal
27 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this week's Viral Particle per popular demand the guys are diving back into the Rona-sphere. They discuss continued misinformation,...
Kuru: The Cannibalism Disease
24 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWhy did a remote tribe in Papua New Guinea experience a mysterious disease outbreak? Was it sorcery or something...darker? Brett and Andy l...
Toxoplasma Gondii: The 'Mind-Control' Parasite
13 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this week's Viral Load, Brett and Andy are back in the world of parasites. Are you a cat lover? You're in luck, so does the &q...
MERS Attacks!
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this week's episode Brett and Andy wrap up the coronavirus trilogy with MERS otherwise known as Middle East respiratory syndrome. M...
COVID-19: To Mask or Not to Mask?
07 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textBrett and Andy sit down to discuss the ever changing climate of the Covid-19 Pandemic. On this Viral Particle mini-sode the guys take a loo...
SARS and the Superspreaders
30 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this episode Brett and Andy travel back to the SARS Pandemic of 2003. Did we learn anything from one of the largest coronavirus outbreak...
COVID-19: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
23 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this week's Viral Particle Brett and Andy are sheltering in place on Covid-19 watch 2020. They discuss the present state of the pan...
Encephalitis Lethargica: A Sleepy Epidemic
16 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textThis week Brett and Andy find out what Post Malone, The Awakenings, and the Salem Witch trials have in common as they dive into what was a ...
COVID-19: Update
09 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this episode of Viral Load Brett and Andy keep you up to date on all things Covid-19. The crew sits down with a financial expert Austin ...
Viral Particle: Going Batty
24 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this week's Viral Particle Brett and Andy head into the bat cave! They discuss how many diseases bats carry, why they are causing s...
I Got Worms
17 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this week's episode Brett and Andy travel to Guinea to dive into the "little dragon from Medina" or as you may know it th...
COVID-19: Fears and Beers
03 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textWorld Health Organization declares Wuhan Coronavirus "Public Health Emergency of International Concern'. Now that it's made ...
Wuhan Coronavirus: Apocalypse Now?
27 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textIn this week's episode Andy and Brett travel to Wuhan China to track down the world's newest deadly disease. The Coronavirus has ...
Viral Particle: Bieber Fever
20 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn viral particle 2 Andy and Brett discuss current events and a possible shift in tracking diseases in a modern society.
Z is for Zika
13 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this episode of Viral Load Andy and Brett take a trip to Brazil to chase down the Asian Tiger Mosquito and find out who or what is respo...
Viral Particle: Adopt Don't shop
06 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textBrett and Andy introduce their first Minisode. The first in a series of mini episodes focusing on current epidemiology events and strange d...
The Ebola Wars (part 2)
16 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this week's Episode Brett and Andy dive back into the world of Ebola and tie in how your cell phone may be contributing to the spre...
The Ebola Wars (part 1)
02 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn this week's episode Brett and Andy dive into the terrifying world of Ebola and how your cell phone could be helping to spread this ...
Smallpox: Mummies and Doomsday Preppers
18 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textGone, but not forgotten! On this episode of Viral Load, Andy and Brett explore smallpox - the first disease in humans to be kicked off the ...
Anthrax in the Arctic
01 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Send a textOn the pilot episode of Viral Load Brett and Andy discuss Siberia, Anthrax, Climate change and how when all those things collide it's ...