1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:14,239 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey you welcome to Stuff to Blow 3 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:16,920 Speaker 1: your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Christian Seger, 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: and we have both been sick for like two weeks now, 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: off and on. You and I have been alternating sicknesses. Yeah. Yeah, 6 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:29,480 Speaker 1: at least two different illnesses have have managed to wander 7 00:00:29,520 --> 00:00:32,479 Speaker 1: their way through my household. Um my son is on 8 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:36,280 Speaker 1: his second illness this week, getting over something with a 9 00:00:36,280 --> 00:00:39,200 Speaker 1: fever and a scratchy throat. I had it a couple 10 00:00:39,240 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: of weeks ago and even took it with me to 11 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: Disney World, uh or right before entering Disness Forward Disney World, 12 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: I didn't actually enter the park, uh with with the illness, 13 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 1: and you went to Disney World the same time. I 14 00:00:51,240 --> 00:00:54,680 Speaker 1: went to Seattle and I caught I don't know if 15 00:00:54,680 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: I got it from you or Jonathan Strickland, our colleague 16 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 1: had laryngite this last week and he sits across from me. 17 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:05,480 Speaker 1: But sure enough, the day I got on the plane, 18 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 1: I came down with something and I had a horrible 19 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: fever by the time I got to Seattle for my 20 00:01:10,720 --> 00:01:14,840 Speaker 1: vacation and was just shivering and Luckily I had three days. 21 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: I ended up getting better before I attended Emerald City 22 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:21,240 Speaker 1: Comic Con last week. Otherwise I would have been patient 23 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: zero at an Emerald City and infected everybody. The nomenclature 24 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: that's usually used at big conventions like that is concruct 25 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,400 Speaker 1: because you just bound to pick something up with that 26 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: many people breathing on each other and touching each other. 27 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:38,240 Speaker 1: I know people who just have like hand sanitizer in 28 00:01:38,240 --> 00:01:40,600 Speaker 1: their pockets at all time, and they're just constantly like 29 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: rubbing their hands within their face. But you know what, like, 30 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: you're gonna just get it no matter what. Well it's 31 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 1: you're you're combining several different things here. You have to 32 00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:51,400 Speaker 1: the convention where like you said, a lot of people 33 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: type space, um you know, sometimes physical interaction. And then 34 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:58,280 Speaker 1: on top of that, if you were flying there, then 35 00:01:58,320 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: you're in and you're on that in the airplane vironment. 36 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 1: So you're in this this sealed tube with all of 37 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:08,959 Speaker 1: these coughing, hacking, breathing people, and it's just gonna the 38 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: illnesses are gonna be passed around. Like I think, I 39 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: look back on the times when when I've gotten sick 40 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,200 Speaker 1: with something you know, notable, and I usually don't don't 41 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:21,240 Speaker 1: get that sick, but it's it generally follows international travel 42 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: um or at least like a long journey by plane. 43 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,280 Speaker 1: This is no joke. Every single year I get sick 44 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 1: one time, like like a major way, and it's always 45 00:02:33,639 --> 00:02:36,799 Speaker 1: when I go on a vacation. Always, it always happens. 46 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,360 Speaker 1: Last year I went to Portland, got sick the minute 47 00:02:39,360 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: I got there. And it's it's either airplanes or maybe 48 00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:45,520 Speaker 1: it's like I'm relaxing and I'm letting my immune system 49 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: drop or something. But I'll say this what you're just 50 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: talking about with the coughing. Has anybody ever been on 51 00:02:51,919 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: an airplane where somebody isn't hacking. Yeah, it's it's it's 52 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: like there's always gonna be someone hacking. Theres always gonna 53 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: be that crying child. Yeah, exactly, It's just part of traveling. 54 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: But so we're circling around this. But our topic for 55 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: today is actually the idea of a patient zero, of 56 00:03:09,880 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: the first patient, the first victim bringing a disease to 57 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 1: the human populace. Yeah, or if not to the human 58 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,640 Speaker 1: populace as a whole, then at least to a center 59 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:25,359 Speaker 1: of population um. These are also known as index cases, 60 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: that's really the more official title, uh, the patient zero 61 00:03:29,160 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: is the sexier sort of media word for for this 62 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,119 Speaker 1: type of individual. And it's really misleading. It's a it's 63 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: a it's a misnomer, and it's misleading. We're gonna talk 64 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: about why. Yeah, And and in order to discuss why, 65 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,240 Speaker 1: I think it's important that we we also isolate some 66 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 1: of the mythic and fictional variations of this trope, because 67 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:49,960 Speaker 1: we're talking about the idea here that some illness or 68 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:52,880 Speaker 1: some flaw and character, and these two are often intermingled, 69 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: and myth can be traced back to a single individual, 70 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: And then how are we supposed to feel about that 71 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:02,160 Speaker 1: single individual and being humans and doing what we do. 72 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: We usually look upon them with the stain and and 73 00:04:06,240 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: write a narrative in which they're somehow the bad guy 74 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: forgetting us all sick. And we know we've talked about 75 00:04:11,800 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 1: mythology on this podcast a lot in the past, and 76 00:04:14,120 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 1: about how how powerful these uh, these mythological ideas are 77 00:04:18,279 --> 00:04:21,520 Speaker 1: even if we're not consciously invoking them. So I thought 78 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 1: it might be a good idea to just look at 79 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,840 Speaker 1: some of these mythic examples and and see how they 80 00:04:26,839 --> 00:04:31,200 Speaker 1: are reflected in our modern view of the patient zero. Okay, 81 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:34,480 Speaker 1: so let's let's start with what we can think of 82 00:04:34,600 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 1: as you know, like original sinners or o G sinners. Uh. 83 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:41,640 Speaker 1: One of the most famous is, of course Pandora. Pandora's 84 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: the first woman created by the gods. She opens a 85 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: jar or a box depending on on on on your reading, 86 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:51,920 Speaker 1: and in doing this she unleashes all the sort of 87 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: non specific evils of the world. So thanks a lot, Pandora. 88 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:59,680 Speaker 1: Now we have evil in and Uh it's very easy 89 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: to see that is a gendered narrative. Certainly our our 90 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: friends who used to do stuff. Mom never told you. You 91 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,679 Speaker 1: You probably have an episode on a Pandora somewhere about 92 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: the myth of the It's all Pandora's fall or it's 93 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:15,800 Speaker 1: all Eve's fault. Yeah, even is the other big one, right? Um? 94 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:19,919 Speaker 1: Eve the first woman? And uh and and as encountered 95 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: in the Old Testament, Uh, she makes the mistake of 96 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:25,479 Speaker 1: listening to a talking snake was of course Satan, who 97 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 1: convinces her to disobey the creator guide and eat of 98 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 1: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and 99 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 1: this transmission only leads to their expulsion from the earthly paradise, 100 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:37,360 Speaker 1: our mortal legacy of having to work and wear clothes 101 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: and experience painful childbirth. So again, a very gender to 102 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: blame game going on here. This one uh, primordial woman 103 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: made a mistake aired in judgment listen to a talking snake, 104 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:53,880 Speaker 1: which is really a bit unfair, right because I've always 105 00:05:53,880 --> 00:05:55,599 Speaker 1: looked back on that story and it's like, what is 106 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: there as talking snake? You really threw a curveball here 107 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,799 Speaker 1: while having a talking snake? I think didn't all animals talk? 108 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: I don't know my Bible that well, Joe should be, 109 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:07,520 Speaker 1: but I'm pretty sure that in the Garden of Eden 110 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: all animals talked. But maybe here's what I don't remember that, 111 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,320 Speaker 1: but maybe that's from the Disney version that well, that's 112 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: where I was going was I was thinking, like, is 113 00:06:17,040 --> 00:06:21,800 Speaker 1: the talking snake the same snake from from the Jungle Book? 114 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: Like an ancient relative? Yeah, exactly, maybe some cub uh, 115 00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:33,360 Speaker 1: but certainly a Pandora eve. These are both examples of 116 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 1: of of of a essentially a patient zero for human suffering. 117 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: Another big one from from from the Old Testament is 118 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,960 Speaker 1: of course Kane. Uh. He's the first born son and 119 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: his crime is a bit more complicated because you get 120 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:52,120 Speaker 1: into this issue of his sacrifice versus abel sacrifice able 121 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:56,800 Speaker 1: being his brother. But however you want to attribute it, 122 00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: He's remembered as being the first murder of his brother Abel. 123 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: So God punished Kane to a life of wandering and 124 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,040 Speaker 1: set a mark on him so that no man would 125 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:08,760 Speaker 1: kill him. Yeah, that that is actually a bit of 126 00:07:08,880 --> 00:07:11,320 Speaker 1: mythos is popping up in a lot of popular culture 127 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:13,960 Speaker 1: fictional lately, the mark of Kine and the idea of 128 00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:18,120 Speaker 1: bearing that that that mark of the first murderer. It's 129 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: a little different than disease, but I think that in 130 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: Kane's case, it's definitely one of those like this is 131 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: why humanity is so burdened, right, Yeah, And all three 132 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: of these are examples to where the idea that the 133 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: stain never watches away, right, humans are always going to 134 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: be stained with original sin and or uh, females are 135 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:41,640 Speaker 1: always gonna have some degree of blame. Right. Or in 136 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: the case of Kine, it it's carried on through through 137 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: Kane's children. Uh. It indeed, like as if it's an 138 00:07:48,840 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: infectious agent. Yeah. Absolutely, Now, we also have plenty of 139 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: examples of monster patriarchs and matriarchs we have a kidna 140 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: the Greek from Greek myth, so this is the mate 141 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:03,880 Speaker 1: of the giant Typhon, and she gave birth to such 142 00:08:03,920 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: monsters as Cerebus, the Hydra, the Chimera, the Sphinx, the gorgon, um, 143 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: uh Cilia, et cetera. I have just been reading Chuck 144 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: Wendig's book Zeros, and it's um not at all about mythology, 145 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:23,080 Speaker 1: but it is about cyberculture and artificial intelligence, and they 146 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: heavily play off of the ecodnah Typhon mythology within the 147 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: sort of classifications of AI. Yeah, there's also lilith the First, 148 00:08:35,000 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: a wife of Adam according to Jewish mythology, and you 149 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 1: see later treatments, especially in fiction and vampire fiction, where 150 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 1: lilith Is is held up as this demon or the 151 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 1: first vambuire and uh to to to draw in a 152 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: less mythic and certainly more pop cultural example, I'm I 153 00:08:53,480 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: was always a big fan of Blade two lad to 154 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: the Fantastiermo de Toro movie, and that has a wonderful 155 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: patient zero plot in it. Yes it does. Yeah, The 156 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 1: whole plot line here is there's a patient zero for 157 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:08,040 Speaker 1: a new strain of vampiresm when it turns the vamps 158 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:12,040 Speaker 1: into reapers who feed on the blood of vampires. And 159 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: so you have this character Jared Nomack who's the sort 160 00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: of tragic supervillain of the of the film. Yeah, and 161 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 1: that's an interesting take on it because, like you can 162 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:25,480 Speaker 1: look at vampiresm mythology in general as being about disease, right, 163 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:27,520 Speaker 1: but then this sort of flips it on its head. 164 00:09:27,559 --> 00:09:30,600 Speaker 1: It's a disease for the disease carriers in a situation 165 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,959 Speaker 1: where the disease changes, there's something is tweaked in the 166 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,320 Speaker 1: illness and suddenly it becomes all the more dangerous. And 167 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 1: that kind of mutation is is actually very real and 168 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:43,040 Speaker 1: part of what we're going to talk about today with 169 00:09:43,480 --> 00:09:48,679 Speaker 1: these ideas of patient zeros in major epidemic breakouts. Yeah, now, 170 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:50,800 Speaker 1: what are a few more here We've recently been talking 171 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,520 Speaker 1: about the expanse Yeah, and there's the character Juliet mal 172 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:57,679 Speaker 1: on that show who's infected with the protomolecule and that 173 00:09:57,760 --> 00:10:00,199 Speaker 1: becomes a major plot point in the first book, in 174 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:02,760 Speaker 1: the first couple of seasons of the show. In Stephen 175 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 1: King's The Stand. Uh, some of some of you King 176 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: fans that they might remember that there's a there's a 177 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: one individual, Charles Campion, I believe. Is he the security 178 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 1: guard who like ends up like leaving the base when 179 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: he's not supposed to believe, so he becomes eight. He 180 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:24,319 Speaker 1: becomes the patient zero for Captain Trips super flu the 181 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:28,040 Speaker 1: stand is truly like the epidemic story of our time. 182 00:10:28,200 --> 00:10:30,240 Speaker 1: I I anytime I get a really bad flu. I 183 00:10:30,240 --> 00:10:33,920 Speaker 1: referred to it his Captain Trips. Yeah, And there's this 184 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:36,320 Speaker 1: movie that came out maybe two or three years ago 185 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: that I thought of. It's called Contracted. They've made a 186 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: sequel to it as well. It's a zombie movie technically, 187 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: but it's about, uh. The whole thing is about a 188 00:10:44,800 --> 00:10:51,079 Speaker 1: woman who contracts zombie ism I guess as a sexually 189 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: transmitted disease from a patient zero, and it's a slow 190 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:00,440 Speaker 1: burn of her basically like going through the initial stages 191 00:11:00,440 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 1: of the disease. The movie ending with her turning into 192 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:06,960 Speaker 1: a zombie. But apparently Contracted, to which I have not seen, 193 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:10,320 Speaker 1: is about finding the patient zero, and this is kind 194 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: of a familiar trope to some of these films, such 195 00:11:13,160 --> 00:11:18,320 Speaker 1: as The Ring and potentially even it follows like I've understand, 196 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: I've understood that if they do a follow up film, 197 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:23,080 Speaker 1: that's going to be what it deals with is kind 198 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:26,320 Speaker 1: of blaming the agent, I mean, the patient zero there is, Yeah, 199 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:28,200 Speaker 1: there is sort of an element of that in the 200 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:30,920 Speaker 1: in the original. It follows if they ever come out 201 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:32,840 Speaker 1: of the sequel that kind of h I kind of 202 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:34,720 Speaker 1: hope they believe it where it is. But but yeah, 203 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:36,640 Speaker 1: the idea that they need to find out whoever the 204 00:11:36,679 --> 00:11:39,400 Speaker 1: first person is, who's contracted this curse, because that's our 205 00:11:39,480 --> 00:11:42,840 Speaker 1: human tendency, right, we want to find out where did 206 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: it begin? Uh? Who can we blame? Um? And it's 207 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: it becomes this complicated game that is both both that 208 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:55,679 Speaker 1: that has certainly elements of of of important science to it, uh, 209 00:11:55,720 --> 00:11:58,880 Speaker 1: and in terms of containing and figuring out how the 210 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:02,760 Speaker 1: illness works, that also draws in all of these less 211 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:06,000 Speaker 1: scientific mythic ideas. So let's unravel this a little bit. 212 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:10,240 Speaker 1: What what is exactly a patient zero or an index case? 213 00:12:10,880 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 1: So as we've been discussing it, we're essentially talking about 214 00:12:14,280 --> 00:12:18,320 Speaker 1: the first known patient to exhibit symptoms of a given illness. Uh. 215 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: And yeah, it's one that plays out into so many 216 00:12:21,520 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 1: of our dramas about infectious disease. Some of the examples 217 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: we didn't touch on that have been mentioned in some 218 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:30,000 Speaker 1: of our sources, or contagion that came out in twenty eleven, 219 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,960 Speaker 1: twelve Monkeys and twenty eight days later came out in 220 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 1: twenty in two thousand and two, and the outbreak was 221 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 1: in a lot of my notes. Yeah yeah, yeah, um. 222 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:44,240 Speaker 1: But as Robert mentioned earlier, scientists prefer the term index case. 223 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:47,560 Speaker 1: The reason why is identifying a single person as the 224 00:12:47,600 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: patient zero both gives an incorrect impression about how a 225 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,840 Speaker 1: disease might emerge, and it insinuates that somebody should be 226 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:59,720 Speaker 1: blamed for the outbreak right. Um. At the same time, 227 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:02,839 Speaker 1: it's important to find out what's going on with these 228 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,600 Speaker 1: cases because then if you know their history, you can 229 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:09,120 Speaker 1: help researchers determine how and when the upbreak started. So 230 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:12,680 Speaker 1: some refer to this as detective work, or actually start 231 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:17,319 Speaker 1: referred to as shoe leather epidemiology in one of the articles. 232 00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:20,200 Speaker 1: Uh So, basically, the idea here is you backtrack the 233 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:24,040 Speaker 1: disease and once patient zero is identified, you try to 234 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: figure out how they got sick, So were they in 235 00:13:27,040 --> 00:13:30,319 Speaker 1: contact with a certain species of animal or what kind 236 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:32,520 Speaker 1: of activities did they do right before they got sick, 237 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:34,600 Speaker 1: or how exposed were they, Like do they have open 238 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: wounds or did they breathe something in did they ingest 239 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: something or was it just something in the air. So, 240 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:43,880 Speaker 1: what today's research is really going to ask us to 241 00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:49,640 Speaker 1: consider is that this is a state of harnessing scientific 242 00:13:49,679 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: authority to enact coercive measures while drawing upon contemporary beliefs 243 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:59,760 Speaker 1: that either race or class or sexuality could lend to 244 00:13:59,840 --> 00:14:05,240 Speaker 1: the patient zero's propensity for disease. Because when patient zero 245 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: is defined as someone with distinguishing traits, whether that's behavior 246 00:14:10,160 --> 00:14:13,840 Speaker 1: or sexuality or race, it makes it easier for those 247 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 1: of us with different characteristics to reassure ourselves that we're 248 00:14:17,440 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: not at risk. This doesn't have to do with us, right, Uh. 249 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: And they typically locate disease origins as being in quote 250 00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: pre modern parts of the world. So there's a concern 251 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,920 Speaker 1: that this narrative deflects attention away from the structural factors 252 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: that can affect transmission and health health outcomes. Um so, yeah, 253 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:39,280 Speaker 1: I mean, and it's it's also incredibly difficult to nail 254 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:42,040 Speaker 1: down a patient zero. Yeah, yeah, it's it's it's one 255 00:14:42,040 --> 00:14:44,560 Speaker 1: of these ideas that certainly works better in fiction than 256 00:14:44,600 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 1: it does in reality. Yeah, absolutely, it seems right, like, uh, 257 00:14:49,040 --> 00:14:51,240 Speaker 1: twenty eight days later, it's really easy to say, like, oh, 258 00:14:51,360 --> 00:14:53,400 Speaker 1: the monkey bit this person and then this person spreading 259 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: you know what I mean, Like like, it's it's very 260 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: easy to do it that way. That's not how the 261 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:59,560 Speaker 1: real world works, right, I mean, it's it's irresistible from 262 00:14:59,560 --> 00:15:03,040 Speaker 1: a fiction all standpoint because it invokes those myths. But 263 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,960 Speaker 1: but yeah, actually finding that individual there. We're going to 264 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: discuss some cases of alleged patient zeros, but for the 265 00:15:09,840 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: most part, it's a rather difficult ansercise, Yeah, because the 266 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 1: thing here is that infectious agents can percolate in the 267 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: environment for years, sometimes even decades without being detected, and 268 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,440 Speaker 1: when they do enter the human population, it could be 269 00:15:23,480 --> 00:15:27,600 Speaker 1: through more than just one person. Also, some people are 270 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 1: more capable of spreading disease than others. So one argument 271 00:15:32,040 --> 00:15:34,320 Speaker 1: is basically, well, instead of thinking of it in terms 272 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: of patients zeros, maybe we should be thinking of super spreaders. 273 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: And there's also a terminology for people who are referred 274 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,240 Speaker 1: to as super shedders as well, and these are the 275 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,360 Speaker 1: people who shed many more types of the virus into 276 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: an environment. So yeah, so we've got a lot to 277 00:15:51,960 --> 00:15:54,080 Speaker 1: unpack here. I think we're gonna see more of it 278 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:56,800 Speaker 1: when we look at the examples. Now, you might well 279 00:15:56,840 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: ask yourself, well, how does one become the first carry 280 00:16:00,080 --> 00:16:03,000 Speaker 1: or of a particular illness. Well, the answer here, of course, 281 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:05,360 Speaker 1: is that that they mutate, They leap from a non 282 00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:08,440 Speaker 1: human host to a human when they adapt and sustain. 283 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:13,640 Speaker 1: So for many zoonotic infectious diseases, the first step involves 284 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:17,160 Speaker 1: the species jump. All right, We've seen this, and you've 285 00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: seen this in a number of examples that have propped 286 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: up in the news over the years, you know, bird flu, 287 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,760 Speaker 1: swine flu. The idea that these these are strains of 288 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:29,560 Speaker 1: influenza that have thus far been isolated to a non 289 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: human animal, but through close proximity, this thing is able 290 00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,400 Speaker 1: to jump to us and then sustain itself in this 291 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: new host. Yeah, and we're gonna see in some of 292 00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: these examples that bats are actually a huge factor in 293 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,240 Speaker 1: zooonotic infections. Uh. The other thing that I was going 294 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:49,400 Speaker 1: to mention too is this reminds me of our episode 295 00:16:49,400 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 1: on the guinea worm, where it was the other way around, 296 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: and that the guinea worm jumped to dogs from humans. Yeah, 297 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: it isn't. Essentially, we thought we had it wiped out 298 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:00,720 Speaker 1: and then we found out it it had jumped to 299 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 1: dogs as a as a new hiding place, thus complicating 300 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 1: our efforts to eradicate it. Uh and uh, you know, 301 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,479 Speaker 1: so anyway they get into a human they can they 302 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:11,600 Speaker 1: can spread through the human population. And to put that 303 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:15,840 Speaker 1: in perspective, about six of all existing human infectious diseases 304 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:19,960 Speaker 1: are zooonotic. So it's not a it's not a case 305 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:23,120 Speaker 1: where oh this is this. This is a strange situation 306 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,520 Speaker 1: where this this illness jump from one species to another. 307 00:17:26,600 --> 00:17:29,119 Speaker 1: This seems to largely be how how they work like 308 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:33,639 Speaker 1: this is this is a common factor in in in studying, preventing, 309 00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: and fighting infectious disease. So why then, why is it 310 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:43,240 Speaker 1: important for science to be able to attribute a patient zero. Well, 311 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:46,000 Speaker 1: there are two main factors here, of course, One is 312 00:17:46,240 --> 00:17:48,680 Speaker 1: the chance to better contain the outbreak. If you can 313 00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,840 Speaker 1: pinpoint who brought it, then you can you can follow 314 00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: the chain, you can try and contain it. You can 315 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:57,200 Speaker 1: you can do everything you can to prevent the further 316 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:00,480 Speaker 1: spread of the illness. Uh. And then second, it's the 317 00:18:00,560 --> 00:18:03,240 Speaker 1: chance to determine where and when the outbreak started based 318 00:18:03,240 --> 00:18:06,800 Speaker 1: on the patient's personal history. It gets one closer, one 319 00:18:06,840 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 1: step closer to the to the source because essentially you're 320 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,720 Speaker 1: you're you're condensing the history of the illness to the 321 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,960 Speaker 1: history of the person, right and that can conceivably be 322 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: easier to to to track down Now. An example of 323 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: this in action would be uh when medical professionals traced 324 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:28,960 Speaker 1: the two thousand fourteen West African outbreak of Ebola back 325 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 1: to a two year old child who died on December six, 326 00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:37,159 Speaker 1: two thou thirteen. By January one, the child's mother, three 327 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,160 Speaker 1: year old sister, and grandmother had died as well. So 328 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: this this was a town in Guiana, which sits adjacent 329 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: to the borders of Liberia and Sierra Leone, so there's 330 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:52,280 Speaker 1: easy access for it to spread into different regions, which 331 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 1: explains how it managed to spread through three countries within 332 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: a matter of months. Isolating the patients zero in this 333 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: case allowed researchers to map the trammission of the virus 334 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:04,280 Speaker 1: and better understood stand how and where it was spreading. 335 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:08,040 Speaker 1: But as we'll explore, this helpful concept can also spin 336 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 1: out of control thanks to the complications of of human 337 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: prejudice and just the power of this mythic idea that 338 00:19:14,840 --> 00:19:17,680 Speaker 1: that there's a single individual to blame, there's something as 339 00:19:17,720 --> 00:19:21,600 Speaker 1: complex as the mutation and spread of an infectious disease. 340 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:25,440 Speaker 1: In fact, I believe in that UH particular Ebola case, 341 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:29,679 Speaker 1: I believe that there were some factors of witchcraft being blamed. Um. 342 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:33,399 Speaker 1: So it's important to see, you know, patient zero not 343 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,399 Speaker 1: only works in a medical situation and that like we 344 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:37,920 Speaker 1: need to apply it so that we can try to 345 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,720 Speaker 1: contain the upbreak figure out what's origins are, but it 346 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: also works from the human cultural perspective of trying to 347 00:19:44,119 --> 00:19:46,840 Speaker 1: understand what's going on, right, right, Why don't we take 348 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:49,320 Speaker 1: a quick break and when we get back, what we're 349 00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:51,679 Speaker 1: going to take a look at some patient zeros of 350 00:19:51,800 --> 00:20:00,520 Speaker 1: note throughout history. Alright, we're back, So, yeah, we're gonna 351 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:03,040 Speaker 1: talk about some patient zeros here. And this first one 352 00:20:03,359 --> 00:20:06,919 Speaker 1: I'm particularly fond of because the story actually comes up 353 00:20:06,960 --> 00:20:11,440 Speaker 1: in the first season of The Nick, which was was 354 00:20:11,520 --> 00:20:15,480 Speaker 1: It is a fabulous Cinemax uh TV series starring Clive 355 00:20:15,520 --> 00:20:20,879 Speaker 1: Owen about the just the rapid advances in the medical 356 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:25,120 Speaker 1: profession UH in the early twentieth century and it's a 357 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,120 Speaker 1: really rough story for this particular individual. I'm sure most 358 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:31,280 Speaker 1: of you have been thinking about her as we've been 359 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:34,880 Speaker 1: talking about patients zero. Of course we mean typhoid Mary. Yeah, 360 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: the name itself has become synonymous with someone who unknowingly 361 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:42,639 Speaker 1: spreads a disease. Yeah, and so typhoid Mary was actually 362 00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:46,080 Speaker 1: a woman named Mary Malone or Malan. She was an 363 00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:50,119 Speaker 1: Irish immigrant and she was forcibly quarantined after officials determined 364 00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,439 Speaker 1: that she was spreading disease to unsuspecting families that she 365 00:20:53,560 --> 00:20:56,119 Speaker 1: worked for as a cook. Now, the idea here was 366 00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: basically that she worked in these homes and members of 367 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:03,240 Speaker 1: the homes they would develop typhoid fever. They would get 368 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: it from salmonilla ty fi. So they quarantined her on 369 00:21:08,240 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 1: two occasions for a total of twenty six years, and 370 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 1: she subsequently even sued the New York Department of Health 371 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:20,040 Speaker 1: because she was basically imprisoned, but she was unsuccessful. Is 372 00:21:20,119 --> 00:21:22,360 Speaker 1: that what they cover in the neck? Do they talk 373 00:21:22,400 --> 00:21:25,360 Speaker 1: about her quarantining They the quarantine is kind of set 374 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:27,240 Speaker 1: up at the end. It basically there's a character in 375 00:21:27,280 --> 00:21:30,840 Speaker 1: the show who's who inspects outbreaks and tries to get 376 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:32,639 Speaker 1: to the bottom of it. And there's a strong, uh 377 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:36,639 Speaker 1: you know, immigrant um aspect of the plot as well. 378 00:21:36,720 --> 00:21:39,280 Speaker 1: But you have a couple of the characters who were 379 00:21:39,520 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: investigating this outbreak and trying to determine what's causing it. Yeah, 380 00:21:43,640 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: So I mean we can see here not only was 381 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,240 Speaker 1: she a woman and it made it gendered, but she 382 00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: was also Irish and at the time there was a 383 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:56,000 Speaker 1: lot of prejudice against Irish immigrants, so of course it 384 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,840 Speaker 1: worked very well for them to say, well, this is 385 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: the person who this whole thing broke out with. It's 386 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,640 Speaker 1: it's her that's responsible for this. She's actually not technically 387 00:22:05,960 --> 00:22:08,680 Speaker 1: what we would refer to as a patient zero though. Yeah, 388 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:11,239 Speaker 1: I guess she might qualify as a as a as 389 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:15,200 Speaker 1: a what a super shudder, Yeah, either a super spreader 390 00:22:15,320 --> 00:22:19,520 Speaker 1: or a super shredder. Uh. That sounds like some kind 391 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:22,760 Speaker 1: of teenage mutant Ninja Turtles. There was super Shredder and 392 00:22:23,200 --> 00:22:26,120 Speaker 1: the second one. I believe it's that they're shredding them mutate, 393 00:22:27,760 --> 00:22:31,440 Speaker 1: but her case, it's actually similar to um that movie 394 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:34,240 Speaker 1: twenty eight weeks later. So the idea here is it's 395 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:36,920 Speaker 1: somebody who can spread the disease, but they're also immune 396 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:40,720 Speaker 1: to it. So she didn't get sick herself, but she 397 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,640 Speaker 1: she was supposedly spreading it to all these other people. Yeah, 398 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:46,439 Speaker 1: she was an asymptomatic carrier, so which means that she 399 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 1: carried the disease, she transmitted it, but she exhibited no 400 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,560 Speaker 1: symptoms herself. And that that's what made her inadvertently so 401 00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: so dangerous because she didn't seem like a sick person, 402 00:22:56,320 --> 00:22:59,800 Speaker 1: but she was carrying this this this deadly infection and 403 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:02,320 Speaker 1: made it very easy for them to basically lock her 404 00:23:02,400 --> 00:23:04,439 Speaker 1: up for half of her life. Yeah, I think she 405 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:08,560 Speaker 1: died in president Actually, Yeah, it's uh, it's interesting that 406 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 1: we bring this up a course on the week of St. 407 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:15,280 Speaker 1: Patrick's Day because I think for a lot of modern 408 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: listeners it's it's especially given you know the importance of 409 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:23,680 Speaker 1: of people of Irish descent in our country and uh, 410 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,040 Speaker 1: and you know, the celebration of St. Patrick's Day and that, etcetera. 411 00:23:27,320 --> 00:23:31,240 Speaker 1: It's easy to forget that that that Irish immigrants had 412 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: kind of a second class class, a second class citizen 413 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 1: classification um in in these in these times, not too 414 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:42,040 Speaker 1: long ago, not very long ago at all. Yeah, And 415 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:45,600 Speaker 1: of course, another another case is with Chinese Americans, and 416 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,080 Speaker 1: we have an example of that that comes up. This 417 00:23:48,160 --> 00:23:50,880 Speaker 1: was from a similar, similar time period. This was back 418 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:54,800 Speaker 1: in nineteen d public health officials discovered the corpse of 419 00:23:54,840 --> 00:23:57,680 Speaker 1: a forty one year old Chinese man named a Wing 420 00:23:57,800 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 1: Chung ging in the basement of the Globe Hotel. So 421 00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:05,320 Speaker 1: this was in San Francisco, and signs pointed to bubonic plague, 422 00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 1: and indeed this was the start of the San Francisco plague. 423 00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:12,840 Speaker 1: Of that that that there was an issue from nineteen 424 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:17,080 Speaker 1: o four. So if officials responded to this by ordering 425 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:21,040 Speaker 1: a complete quarantine of Chinatown, they ordered all white residents 426 00:24:21,040 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 1: to evacuate and had mandatory a house by house fumigation 427 00:24:25,240 --> 00:24:28,920 Speaker 1: and vaccination for all of the residents. So it's another 428 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:31,399 Speaker 1: case in which, yes, on one level, there's a rational 429 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:33,919 Speaker 1: attempt here to contain the spread of an infectious disease, 430 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,640 Speaker 1: but there's also this element of race and social standing 431 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:40,240 Speaker 1: that's playing into it. You know, the idea, well, let's 432 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: get let's get all the white people out and let's 433 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,160 Speaker 1: deal with the problem here, which are the Chinese people. 434 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: And just how ridiculous and ultimately grotesque that notion is 435 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:54,920 Speaker 1: and and potentially ineffective in containing the the the illness. Yeah. 436 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: You see how in these American examples, and we're going 437 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:01,359 Speaker 1: to talk about HIV a lot later, uh, that they 438 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:04,439 Speaker 1: they're immigration scares essentially, right, and in the case of 439 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:09,359 Speaker 1: HIV it's a scare of sexuality. But I mean, I 440 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: could very easily see, given our current situation with immigration 441 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:16,680 Speaker 1: here in the United States, that it would be very 442 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:19,399 Speaker 1: easy to latch onto a narrative that somebody who is 443 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:23,040 Speaker 1: either Latino or Middle Eastern was a patient zero of 444 00:25:23,080 --> 00:25:25,520 Speaker 1: some kind in the coming years. Right, that would be 445 00:25:25,600 --> 00:25:29,200 Speaker 1: a very similar uh storyline to what we saw with 446 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:33,879 Speaker 1: typhoid marry and wing chun ging, uh, basically like demonizing them, 447 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:37,280 Speaker 1: so that the predominant narrative is, Oh, it's not me, 448 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:40,240 Speaker 1: I'm okay, I'll be fine as long as I stay 449 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:44,080 Speaker 1: away from those people, right, I mean, well, you see, Amain, 450 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,520 Speaker 1: there's been a lot of discussion in the media, uh 451 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:49,080 Speaker 1: recently about the idea that we see the exact same 452 00:25:49,119 --> 00:25:53,199 Speaker 1: thing with with acts of violence and terrorism. Right, that 453 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:56,800 Speaker 1: the idea is that we end up focusing on individuals 454 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:00,159 Speaker 1: who are mothered in some respect, so it's individual was 455 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:05,240 Speaker 1: from a from a predominantly Muslim nation or or a 456 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:09,520 Speaker 1: nation that that is has some connection to these, uh, 457 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: these these cases of violent extremism, and then saying well, 458 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:14,679 Speaker 1: this is where it's coming from, and then you're just 459 00:26:14,800 --> 00:26:19,080 Speaker 1: missing other fonts of violence, other fonts of terrorism that 460 00:26:19,119 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 1: occurred domestically or in other nations that for various reasons 461 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: are not receiving the same level of scrutiny. Right, But 462 00:26:27,320 --> 00:26:29,639 Speaker 1: it happens in other nations too. It's not just the 463 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:33,959 Speaker 1: United States was certainly was. This is a human wide phenomenon. 464 00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:38,560 Speaker 1: So another example of a of a patient zero here 465 00:26:38,680 --> 00:26:43,359 Speaker 1: or an allegation zero was a a Chinese doctor by 466 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:46,440 Speaker 1: the name of doctor lu Jeen Loon. This is a 467 00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:50,040 Speaker 1: sixty four year old He was from Guangdong Province. This 468 00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:52,920 Speaker 1: is a home to to Guangzhou for anyone who's trying 469 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:55,000 Speaker 1: to piece it together in a map. And he spent 470 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,159 Speaker 1: the night in a Hong Kong hotel and according to 471 00:26:58,200 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: a report from CNN, he may have transferred um his 472 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:04,960 Speaker 1: virus to at least sixteen other guests staying on the 473 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:08,600 Speaker 1: same floor, that virus being stars. Yeah, so the idea here, 474 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 1: this definitely seems to be a case of what they 475 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,680 Speaker 1: call super spreading. It's thought that Lou acquired the disease 476 00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,600 Speaker 1: from a hospital that he worked in. So a farmer 477 00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:21,720 Speaker 1: in Guangdong first developed STARS after coming into contact with 478 00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:24,520 Speaker 1: an animal. So we've talked about this already. This is 479 00:27:24,640 --> 00:27:28,920 Speaker 1: zoonotic infectious disease that jumps from one species to another. Uh. 480 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:32,159 Speaker 1: So it's believed that Stars originated in bats actually and 481 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:37,920 Speaker 1: then spread to other animals like civit cats before infecting humans. Uh. 482 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:41,440 Speaker 1: And so when the genetic material from two or more 483 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,440 Speaker 1: other viruses infect a single human or really any animal, 484 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:51,040 Speaker 1: the host itself is referred to as a reassortment event, right, 485 00:27:51,119 --> 00:27:52,960 Speaker 1: And so that that is what is assumed to have 486 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:56,159 Speaker 1: happened here. A lot of deadly diseases are linked to 487 00:27:56,200 --> 00:27:57,679 Speaker 1: bats in this way, and we'll we'll give you some 488 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:01,880 Speaker 1: more examples later, but a bowl uh hepatitis, se stars, 489 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:04,560 Speaker 1: and perhaps mers are all linked to bats. In the 490 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:06,800 Speaker 1: case of Stars, it's thought that it first spread to 491 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:12,920 Speaker 1: humans actually in by bats that were infecting horses in Brisbane, Australia. 492 00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: Then two people caught the virus from the horses, and 493 00:28:17,119 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: they think it was possibly from scratches that were exposed 494 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:24,760 Speaker 1: to infected horse blood. Both of these people died horrible deaths. UH. 495 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:28,720 Speaker 1: In other diseases, pigs have become infected by eating saliva 496 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:32,720 Speaker 1: covered fruit that's dropped by bats, and then that subsequently 497 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:36,320 Speaker 1: infects the humans who eat the pigs. Uh. People can 498 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 1: also be directly infected by drinking juice from date palms 499 00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:43,640 Speaker 1: that have been contaminated by bats. It's interesting to bring 500 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:46,800 Speaker 1: bats up because you know, we've been talking about typhog Mary. 501 00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:50,320 Speaker 1: We talked about how she was an asymptomatic carrier. Of course, 502 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 1: bats are asymptomatic carriers of rabies. Uh. They don't display 503 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,680 Speaker 1: the rabies of uh, you know, they're not foaming at 504 00:28:57,720 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 1: the mouth, but they can be carriers of it. And 505 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: that's why we is. Everyone I think has heard if 506 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: you're bitten by a bat, you have to you have 507 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:10,680 Speaker 1: to act accordingly. Um as if you've contracted great. Yeah, 508 00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:12,960 Speaker 1: it's a different episode for another time, but I would 509 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:16,320 Speaker 1: love for us to tackle bats in their immune systems 510 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 1: and and and just their anatomy in general. We did 511 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:22,480 Speaker 1: a how stuff works video and it was like three 512 00:29:22,560 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: years ago where we went to dragon Con and we 513 00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:27,840 Speaker 1: interviewed a woman who was a specialist in bats and 514 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,680 Speaker 1: viral spreading, and it was just really interesting. The idea 515 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:35,400 Speaker 1: basically being that they have these crazy fast metabolisms that 516 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: just process things right out of them. Um, but on 517 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,280 Speaker 1: the other hand, they're also super susceptible to spreading these diseases. 518 00:29:43,360 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 1: The other thing is that, in the case of Stars, 519 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: it's thought that a few wild civets were infected by bats, 520 00:29:48,960 --> 00:29:51,040 Speaker 1: and then these civets were caught and taken to the 521 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:54,200 Speaker 1: market and the virus jumped to humans. You know what 522 00:29:54,240 --> 00:29:56,680 Speaker 1: I immediately think of, here, have you heard about this 523 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:01,280 Speaker 1: coffee that's made from civit? Oh? Yeah, I have never 524 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:03,160 Speaker 1: had it, but I haven't familiar with it. But so 525 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:05,200 Speaker 1: if nobody out there has heard of this, apparently, I 526 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:07,160 Speaker 1: think in l A it's kind of a thing you 527 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:09,200 Speaker 1: can buy like a cup of coffee that costs like 528 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:11,680 Speaker 1: what it's like eighty bucks or something crazy like that 529 00:30:11,920 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 1: for one cup of coffee. It's supposed to be like 530 00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,600 Speaker 1: the best coffee in the world. So the idea here, 531 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 1: I think is that, uh, these civits eat coffee beans, 532 00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:23,280 Speaker 1: they digest them, and then when it comes out the 533 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,520 Speaker 1: other end, they're able to somehow process it into coffee, 534 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:30,480 Speaker 1: not the civits people. It's not coffee itself, just poured 535 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:33,560 Speaker 1: directly out of there right exactly. They process it and 536 00:30:33,600 --> 00:30:36,640 Speaker 1: it and it supposedly has like this amazing fruity flavor. 537 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:39,200 Speaker 1: But my first thought was, well, what if these civits 538 00:30:39,200 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: are bitten by bats and you're drinking this eighty dollar coffee, 539 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,720 Speaker 1: do you then get stars from your coffee? Yeah? I 540 00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:46,520 Speaker 1: can imagine the selling. Look, this is gonna be the 541 00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:49,160 Speaker 1: best cup of coffee you ever have. You're you're gonna 542 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:53,200 Speaker 1: catch stars probably, but just just just give it a try. 543 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:57,000 Speaker 1: I meant it. I doubt that's the case. Otherwise people 544 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,720 Speaker 1: would probably be warned about this super expensive coffee. But still, 545 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:03,520 Speaker 1: it just kind of made me think about that whole thing. Now, 546 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:07,440 Speaker 1: Dr lu John Lune here Again, he wouldn't have been 547 00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,160 Speaker 1: patient zero per se, but it was still a critical 548 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,080 Speaker 1: factor in the spread of the disease because people from 549 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:15,640 Speaker 1: that hotel traveled and in less than four months, about 550 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,320 Speaker 1: four thousand cases and five fifty deaths from stars could 551 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:22,760 Speaker 1: be traced back to his stay in Hong Kong. And 552 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:26,280 Speaker 1: this just makes me think back to our stories about 553 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 1: traveling while sick, Like when when we have these tales 554 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:33,560 Speaker 1: of patient zeros or alleged patient zeros. It's really easy 555 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:37,120 Speaker 1: to apply blame and say, oh, that was so irresponsible 556 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:39,560 Speaker 1: that person to travel while they were sick and got 557 00:31:39,560 --> 00:31:41,880 Speaker 1: all these other people sick. And yet this is something 558 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:44,600 Speaker 1: we all do. We all know that if you're sick, 559 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:47,240 Speaker 1: you should you should probably not travel. We know that 560 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:49,120 Speaker 1: if your kids sick, you shouldn't send them to school. 561 00:31:49,800 --> 00:31:52,600 Speaker 1: And yet this happens all the time because we had 562 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:55,840 Speaker 1: we make our plans, we spend money, we have our 563 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:59,560 Speaker 1: jobs to do, we have our lives to uh uh. 564 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:03,080 Speaker 1: You all planned out, and then illnesses come along and 565 00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:05,880 Speaker 1: we're generally we generally just try and plow through it 566 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: if we possibly can exactly. I mean, like, so in 567 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:12,480 Speaker 1: both of our cases, you and I had both invested 568 00:32:13,200 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 1: a lot of money and going on these vacations. It's 569 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:20,360 Speaker 1: not like you're just gonna you can't just cancel those plans, 570 00:32:20,720 --> 00:32:24,480 Speaker 1: because that's a huge you know wash essentially. Now, yeah, 571 00:32:24,520 --> 00:32:26,280 Speaker 1: you know some of you out there are probably saying, well, 572 00:32:26,320 --> 00:32:29,080 Speaker 1: you should have for the for the betterment of mankind, 573 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:32,120 Speaker 1: for everybody around you. I mean, for my part, like 574 00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 1: I would I think try to wear one of those 575 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:37,560 Speaker 1: masks or something, or honestly, after this last week, I 576 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,240 Speaker 1: would recommend that everybody just wear one of those masks 577 00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:42,720 Speaker 1: when you're on a plane from now on. Uh. Those 578 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:46,040 Speaker 1: first really got popularized with stars, right I remember that. Yeah. 579 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:48,240 Speaker 1: I mean, of course in um, in much of Asia, 580 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:49,880 Speaker 1: you still see them all the time in any kind 581 00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:53,120 Speaker 1: of like a public gathering and sporting event. Uh so 582 00:32:53,240 --> 00:32:55,560 Speaker 1: much so that they're like they've they've kind of like 583 00:32:56,120 --> 00:32:59,360 Speaker 1: gotten some like aesthetic designs to them, right, you see 584 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:04,719 Speaker 1: logos and emblazoned on the Yeah. But uh, you know, 585 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: I think that's probably the smart way to go. I 586 00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:09,920 Speaker 1: remember seeing people like that on the train or whatever 587 00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:12,520 Speaker 1: and being like, what a germophobe? And now I'm like 588 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:19,280 Speaker 1: it makes sense, like the German is not sick. Yeah, exactly. Okay, 589 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:21,960 Speaker 1: here's a couple other examples. So. Um there was a 590 00:33:22,040 --> 00:33:24,040 Speaker 1: six year old and I don't think this is his 591 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:28,160 Speaker 1: real name, but he was referred to as Captain boonemanuk 592 00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 1: Uh and he was a tai boy who was the 593 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:35,160 Speaker 1: first confirmed casualty of Avian influenza, or as we more 594 00:33:35,160 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: commonly call it, bird flu. In two thousand four. He 595 00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:41,640 Speaker 1: fell ill and his family reported that he had recently 596 00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:44,200 Speaker 1: scooped up a chicken and that chicken was thought to 597 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:46,160 Speaker 1: have had the virus. So he's referred to as the 598 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:50,320 Speaker 1: patient zero for that. We've also got Edgar Hernandez, who 599 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:52,520 Speaker 1: is a five year old living in the Mexican town 600 00:33:52,560 --> 00:33:56,360 Speaker 1: of Le Gloria, when doctors identified him as the earliest 601 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:59,360 Speaker 1: documented case of swine flew in two thousand nine. There 602 00:33:59,400 --> 00:34:01,920 Speaker 1: you go with a an example of somebody of Latino 603 00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:06,400 Speaker 1: descent who's blamed as a patient zero. But yeah, he was. 604 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,399 Speaker 1: He was called the earliest documented case of swine flu. 605 00:34:09,680 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: They believe this came from again a reassortment event. The 606 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,400 Speaker 1: idea here was that the H one N one strain 607 00:34:16,680 --> 00:34:21,400 Speaker 1: was mixed inside pigs and that created new combinations that 608 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,680 Speaker 1: were more likely to infect people. Edgar Hernandez was the 609 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:27,719 Speaker 1: first one that they documented. Now for this next one, 610 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:30,839 Speaker 1: this is the individual that uh, we referenced already when 611 00:34:30,840 --> 00:34:33,560 Speaker 1: we're talking about that ebola case, that two year old. 612 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,319 Speaker 1: But you have some additional information here. Yeah, so it 613 00:34:36,360 --> 00:34:38,759 Speaker 1: looks like and I'm probably butchering this name, but the 614 00:34:38,840 --> 00:34:42,680 Speaker 1: name is a meal U Muno uh and like Robert 615 00:34:42,680 --> 00:34:45,120 Speaker 1: had earlier said, it was a toddler living in the 616 00:34:45,200 --> 00:34:50,279 Speaker 1: village of Milandou when he developed a bola uh. So 617 00:34:50,520 --> 00:34:54,360 Speaker 1: Robert mentioned how quickly that spread and that basically it 618 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:56,799 Speaker 1: was because the town that this happened in it was 619 00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 1: on the intersection of three different countries, so the virus 620 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:05,279 Speaker 1: spread really easily. This showed researchers just how transmissible uh 621 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:10,000 Speaker 1: ebola can be and that specifically dealing with the sick 622 00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:13,319 Speaker 1: is a higher risk event for acquiring the affection. Now 623 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,360 Speaker 1: in this case, they were saying, like, look, whether or 624 00:35:16,440 --> 00:35:19,240 Speaker 1: not it's like a medicine man type figure of shaman 625 00:35:19,280 --> 00:35:21,560 Speaker 1: type figure, or even if it's just some kind of 626 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:25,400 Speaker 1: a medical doctor, that they're basically putting themselves into these 627 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:30,040 Speaker 1: high risk scenarios where they can then subsequently become super spreaders. Uh. 628 00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:33,359 Speaker 1: In addition to the detective work that the researchers did, 629 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,799 Speaker 1: they were also able to sequence the genomes of nine 630 00:35:37,560 --> 00:35:41,160 Speaker 1: BOWLA viruses that were found in samples taken from seventy 631 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:44,080 Speaker 1: eight patients and Sierra leone. Uh. This led them to 632 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:46,960 Speaker 1: believe that the virus was brought to West Africa in 633 00:35:47,000 --> 00:35:52,000 Speaker 1: the past decade by an animal. And so, like we 634 00:35:52,040 --> 00:35:55,399 Speaker 1: said earlier, you know this could this could have been bats. Uh. 635 00:35:55,640 --> 00:35:59,319 Speaker 1: It's also thought ebola can be transmitted through monkeys and 636 00:35:59,480 --> 00:36:02,920 Speaker 1: forest antelope as well. And we've also got a patient 637 00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:06,680 Speaker 1: here who is a sixty eight year old South Korean man. Uh. 638 00:36:06,719 --> 00:36:09,320 Speaker 1: He's thought to be the so called patient zero for 639 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:14,200 Speaker 1: MERS or Middle East Respiratory syndome syndrome. UH. He was 640 00:36:14,239 --> 00:36:17,160 Speaker 1: an extensive traveler and he had been in Bahrain, the 641 00:36:17,239 --> 00:36:21,799 Speaker 1: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar before returning to 642 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:25,840 Speaker 1: South Korea. Now, MERS can take two to fourteen days 643 00:36:26,200 --> 00:36:28,839 Speaker 1: before symptoms begin to show, so it's thought that he 644 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:32,200 Speaker 1: may have transmitted it to twenty eight other people before 645 00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:35,359 Speaker 1: he even arrived at a hospital. That's an important note 646 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,560 Speaker 1: to make because even if you're not a purely an 647 00:36:38,840 --> 00:36:42,960 Speaker 1: asymptomatic carrier of a disease, so many different diseases and 648 00:36:42,960 --> 00:36:46,759 Speaker 1: anonymosis have an asymptomatic period. Uh. This is the case 649 00:36:46,760 --> 00:36:49,200 Speaker 1: in a number of STDs as well, where one is 650 00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 1: carrying the STD, but you're not displaying a lesions or 651 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:56,000 Speaker 1: you know, or swelling or rashes or whatever. The symptoms 652 00:36:56,400 --> 00:37:00,080 Speaker 1: are of like a full, full blown outbreak. Yeah. And 653 00:37:00,080 --> 00:37:04,279 Speaker 1: and so speaking of STDs, now we've we've got the 654 00:37:04,320 --> 00:37:07,800 Speaker 1: big term for patient zero. We're gonna take a break. 655 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:09,840 Speaker 1: When we come back, we're going to talk about the 656 00:37:09,880 --> 00:37:13,719 Speaker 1: redemption of the man who was first designated patient zero, 657 00:37:14,040 --> 00:37:23,879 Speaker 1: or the first man supposedly to have HIV. Alright, we're back. 658 00:37:23,920 --> 00:37:27,520 Speaker 1: So we're talking here about Gaeton Dog. Yeah. He is 659 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:31,800 Speaker 1: often attributed as being the patient zero for the HIV crisis. 660 00:37:32,160 --> 00:37:34,920 Speaker 1: He was a Canadian flight attendant that was accused of 661 00:37:34,960 --> 00:37:38,160 Speaker 1: introducing the virus to North America after he picked it 662 00:37:38,239 --> 00:37:42,080 Speaker 1: up in either Haiti or Europe and do God was 663 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:45,480 Speaker 1: said to have infected hundreds of sexual partners before his 664 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:50,760 Speaker 1: death in Now this is where the term patient zero 665 00:37:51,040 --> 00:37:54,000 Speaker 1: was popularized. This shocked me. I thought that that term 666 00:37:54,000 --> 00:37:56,680 Speaker 1: had been around for a very long time, at least 667 00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:58,719 Speaker 1: as far back as typhoid Mary. But it turns out 668 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:01,560 Speaker 1: it's it's relatively re within our lifetimes. Yeah, I mean, 669 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:04,200 Speaker 1: this was a This was a major publication. They did 670 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:07,640 Speaker 1: a TV movie based on it that had the Matthew 671 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:10,640 Speaker 1: Moods starring. Yeah, stuff to blow your mind. Favorite Matthew Modine. 672 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:14,640 Speaker 1: He's played the doctor I believe not do different doctor 673 00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:17,680 Speaker 1: from the one who plays and stranger things. Well who knows, 674 00:38:19,440 --> 00:38:22,319 Speaker 1: but yeah, so this the term was popularized in a 675 00:38:22,440 --> 00:38:25,520 Speaker 1: book that was by a game named Randy Schiltz. And 676 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:27,560 Speaker 1: this book is called in the Band Played On. It 677 00:38:27,560 --> 00:38:31,200 Speaker 1: came out in and it documented the early years of 678 00:38:31,239 --> 00:38:35,640 Speaker 1: the AIDS crisis. Schiltz took the medical term patient oh, 679 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:39,080 Speaker 1: that's the letter oh and turned it into zero in 680 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:42,359 Speaker 1: the book, describing Dog as a person who continually had 681 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:46,279 Speaker 1: sex with partners without regard for their health, even after 682 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:49,360 Speaker 1: his physicians told him to stop. The book also says 683 00:38:49,400 --> 00:38:53,200 Speaker 1: that Dog would purposely show partners his sarcoma legions after 684 00:38:53,280 --> 00:38:56,480 Speaker 1: sex and say things like I've got gay cancer, I'm 685 00:38:56,520 --> 00:38:59,200 Speaker 1: going to die and so are you? H Now the 686 00:38:59,239 --> 00:39:02,799 Speaker 1: reason why the letter oh was misinterpreted as a zero 687 00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:07,520 Speaker 1: this turned into the provocative term patient zero. It actually 688 00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:11,880 Speaker 1: meant oh for outside of California. Uh. And the book, 689 00:39:12,360 --> 00:39:15,160 Speaker 1: but as we said, was made into a film. Now. 690 00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:17,719 Speaker 1: One thing to keep in mind about about Randy Schiltz here, 691 00:39:17,719 --> 00:39:20,160 Speaker 1: and I bring this up because not everyone's problem may 692 00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:23,239 Speaker 1: not be familiar with the book, um and what his 693 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:25,960 Speaker 1: background is, especially when we're talking so much about mothering 694 00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:29,400 Speaker 1: here and discussing the the outsider as the source of 695 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:34,440 Speaker 1: an illness. Now, Schiltz himself was a homosexual man, uh 696 00:39:34,480 --> 00:39:37,960 Speaker 1: and he had did. He also eventually died of of HIV, 697 00:39:38,640 --> 00:39:41,280 Speaker 1: though he he held off on finding out for sure 698 00:39:41,320 --> 00:39:43,239 Speaker 1: if he had the illness until he had completed the 699 00:39:43,239 --> 00:39:48,239 Speaker 1: book because he didn't want it to to influence just 700 00:39:48,320 --> 00:39:51,960 Speaker 1: to color his prose um. Again, he was a you know, 701 00:39:52,000 --> 00:39:56,600 Speaker 1: acclaimed journalist in his life, like prior to writing the book. 702 00:39:56,640 --> 00:39:59,040 Speaker 1: So so I want everyone to have the like, the 703 00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:02,320 Speaker 1: proper impression of him before we keep going. Yeah, exactly. 704 00:40:02,360 --> 00:40:06,120 Speaker 1: I mean, so what we're going to discover here is that, well, 705 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:10,480 Speaker 1: Schultz was wrong about dog. But that doesn't mean that 706 00:40:10,560 --> 00:40:14,240 Speaker 1: Schultz necessarily was a bad person. Right now, in terms 707 00:40:14,280 --> 00:40:18,200 Speaker 1: of dogad we talk a bit about the redemption of 708 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:21,840 Speaker 1: of him as a carrier of the illness. Um it 709 00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:26,520 Speaker 1: he still allegedly boasted of two dred and fifty partners 710 00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:29,719 Speaker 1: a year after he learned of his condition. Um. He 711 00:40:30,600 --> 00:40:35,160 Speaker 1: was highly vilified, as is certainly following this book coming out. 712 00:40:35,200 --> 00:40:38,880 Speaker 1: Many Canadians apparently saw it as a shame on the nation. 713 00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:41,520 Speaker 1: You know, the idea that here's this this guy who 714 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:45,719 Speaker 1: who played such a pivotal role in spreading this this disease. 715 00:40:45,760 --> 00:40:48,160 Speaker 1: And he was one of us, he was Canadian, and 716 00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:51,640 Speaker 1: how are we supposed to feel about that? Uh? And 717 00:40:51,840 --> 00:40:53,719 Speaker 1: and still as sensational as all of this was at 718 00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:56,880 Speaker 1: the time and is vilified as he was following the 719 00:40:56,880 --> 00:40:59,600 Speaker 1: band played on, not everyone at the time was really 720 00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:01,920 Speaker 1: into this sensation. When the book came out in the 721 00:41:02,000 --> 00:41:06,960 Speaker 1: late eighties, pioneering age researcher Professor Marcus Connat of the 722 00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:11,360 Speaker 1: University of California at San Francisco told Time magazine quote, 723 00:41:11,560 --> 00:41:13,919 Speaker 1: if it hadn't been this man, it would have been 724 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:19,040 Speaker 1: some other. So it's much even though one is, you know, 725 00:41:19,080 --> 00:41:21,640 Speaker 1: instantly inclined to say, oh, this guy's patient zero. Look 726 00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:25,000 Speaker 1: how reckless he was. Look, Look look how terrible he was. 727 00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:27,920 Speaker 1: He should have he should have cared more for his 728 00:41:28,040 --> 00:41:31,719 Speaker 1: for his fellow humans. Uh. If it hadn't have been him, 729 00:41:31,719 --> 00:41:34,600 Speaker 1: it would have been someone else like these. When you're 730 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:37,239 Speaker 1: dealing with an infectious disease, it's it's not a thing 731 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:39,839 Speaker 1: of that is born out of human choice. It's not 732 00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:44,320 Speaker 1: something as simple as uh as Pandora opening that box. 733 00:41:44,719 --> 00:41:46,800 Speaker 1: And even then you could say, well, if Pandora didn't 734 00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:48,640 Speaker 1: open it. Someone would have opened you have a box 735 00:41:48,680 --> 00:41:50,719 Speaker 1: setting around. You can't just leave a box with a 736 00:41:50,800 --> 00:41:54,400 Speaker 1: lid on it and expect that nobody's ever going to 737 00:41:54,440 --> 00:41:57,359 Speaker 1: try it out and see what's inside. Yeah, and as 738 00:41:57,400 --> 00:41:59,600 Speaker 1: we're going to find out, you know, not only would 739 00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:02,640 Speaker 1: it have been somebody else if it wasn't Duga, but 740 00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:05,200 Speaker 1: it was. It was already out there. It was already 741 00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:08,239 Speaker 1: in the world. It was already in the human populace. 742 00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:10,520 Speaker 1: It just wasn't in the United States yet. And that's 743 00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:13,680 Speaker 1: the thing here too, right, is that, like the narrative is, oh, 744 00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:15,920 Speaker 1: this guy, this is the guy who brought it to 745 00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:20,120 Speaker 1: the United States, but we didn't care about the people 746 00:42:20,160 --> 00:42:24,160 Speaker 1: who were infected with this in the Caribbean or in Africa. Yeah, 747 00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:26,640 Speaker 1: it's the idea that that that that everyone in the 748 00:42:26,719 --> 00:42:30,000 Speaker 1: US was somehow, you know, situated in this just on 749 00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:33,440 Speaker 1: another planet, essentially, was completely removed from the threats of 750 00:42:33,440 --> 00:42:36,640 Speaker 1: it via this station in the world. Um. Like, one 751 00:42:36,680 --> 00:42:38,840 Speaker 1: example that comes to mind when discussing all this is 752 00:42:39,320 --> 00:42:43,120 Speaker 1: another case of destructive introduction of an infectious disease, and 753 00:42:43,200 --> 00:42:48,040 Speaker 1: that's uh uh Spanish explorers bringing a smallpox influenza and 754 00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:52,040 Speaker 1: measles into the New World. Now, this of course played 755 00:42:52,400 --> 00:42:57,360 Speaker 1: a huge role in uh and you really can't um 756 00:42:57,480 --> 00:43:00,080 Speaker 1: overestimate the role that's played. It gave them the the 757 00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:04,600 Speaker 1: ability to exert military dominance, uh, certainly with more ease. 758 00:43:05,000 --> 00:43:08,880 Speaker 1: It Uh, it was. It was just a vital factor 759 00:43:09,360 --> 00:43:13,440 Speaker 1: in this this this population coming into the New World. 760 00:43:14,719 --> 00:43:16,640 Speaker 1: And you can easily ask, well, what if what if 761 00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:20,000 Speaker 1: this hadn't have happened, what if they hadn't introduced uh 762 00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:25,600 Speaker 1: uh these illnesses. Well, it's hard to envision a situation 763 00:43:25,640 --> 00:43:28,279 Speaker 1: where it wouldn't have, right, I mean, because people were 764 00:43:28,320 --> 00:43:31,440 Speaker 1: traveling across the world, that the world was getting smaller, 765 00:43:32,080 --> 00:43:34,640 Speaker 1: we were these were some of the you know, the 766 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:40,040 Speaker 1: first contact between these these these two human populations. It 767 00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:42,560 Speaker 1: was gonna happen. Now you can say, well, maybe it 768 00:43:42,560 --> 00:43:45,120 Speaker 1: would there there are scenarios where you can imagine it 769 00:43:45,239 --> 00:43:49,040 Speaker 1: happening uh uh in a way that wasn't so destructive. 770 00:43:49,440 --> 00:43:53,600 Speaker 1: But but but but these these illnesses were going to 771 00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:56,959 Speaker 1: spread into the New World. There's there's really no way 772 00:43:56,960 --> 00:44:00,920 Speaker 1: to imagine an alternative scenario. I mean unless there was 773 00:44:00,960 --> 00:44:05,399 Speaker 1: some sort of you know, Star Trek prime directive scenario involved. Story. Yeah, yeah, 774 00:44:05,440 --> 00:44:08,640 Speaker 1: I don't think that the early colonists had any prime 775 00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:11,160 Speaker 1: directives in mind. What what this makes me think of 776 00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:13,760 Speaker 1: is just from from my you know, local history growing 777 00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:19,000 Speaker 1: up in New England. Uh So, Amherst, Massachusetts is a 778 00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:22,080 Speaker 1: town that my family is just generally from around that area, 779 00:44:22,080 --> 00:44:25,480 Speaker 1: and my mother lives there. It's named after Lord Jeffrey Amherst. 780 00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:27,480 Speaker 1: What a lot of people don't know, even who live 781 00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:31,160 Speaker 1: in the town, is that Lord Jeffrey Amherst purposely gave 782 00:44:31,320 --> 00:44:34,600 Speaker 1: smallpox blankets to the Native American population in the area, 783 00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:38,680 Speaker 1: you know, subsequently killing a lot of people. Uh. Yet 784 00:44:39,080 --> 00:44:42,400 Speaker 1: you know, this is one of the larger towns in 785 00:44:42,440 --> 00:44:46,760 Speaker 1: New England. It's also uh sort of a celebrated bastion 786 00:44:46,800 --> 00:44:49,600 Speaker 1: of liberalism today, which is ironic. And yet here's this 787 00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:53,680 Speaker 1: figure who was essentially engaging in biological warfare via these 788 00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:57,239 Speaker 1: infected blankets. Now, in the case of Douga, there was 789 00:44:57,280 --> 00:45:00,759 Speaker 1: a recent article in Nature that found that HIV in 790 00:45:00,880 --> 00:45:05,799 Speaker 1: fact entered the US several years before he even did. 791 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:11,000 Speaker 1: They determined this through a genetic analysis of stored blood samples, 792 00:45:11,000 --> 00:45:12,840 Speaker 1: and what they found was that the virus entered the 793 00:45:12,960 --> 00:45:17,480 Speaker 1: US from the Caribbean somewhere around one, and they think 794 00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:21,640 Speaker 1: it was possibly through contaminated blood products like blood plasma. 795 00:45:21,680 --> 00:45:25,000 Speaker 1: It wasn't even human to human interaction. Yeah, this was 796 00:45:25,040 --> 00:45:26,880 Speaker 1: of course a big deal. And in a lot of 797 00:45:26,920 --> 00:45:31,279 Speaker 1: the early HIV transmissions. If you're any science fiction fans, 798 00:45:31,280 --> 00:45:35,279 Speaker 1: so they probably remember that Isaac Asimov contracted HIV this way. 799 00:45:35,440 --> 00:45:38,400 Speaker 1: He'd uh, I did not know that because some heart surgery, 800 00:45:38,440 --> 00:45:41,680 Speaker 1: I believe, and uh he ended up contracting HIV from 801 00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:44,960 Speaker 1: the transfusion. But it was so it was so scandalous 802 00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:47,400 Speaker 1: at the time. It was I think ten years after 803 00:45:47,400 --> 00:45:50,560 Speaker 1: his death. Before that that fact was made public by 804 00:45:50,640 --> 00:45:53,480 Speaker 1: his family where they said, yeah, this is this is 805 00:45:53,520 --> 00:45:56,560 Speaker 1: what happened. The same thing happened in my family. My 806 00:45:56,640 --> 00:46:01,200 Speaker 1: grandfather contracted HIV through heart surgery. Uh. But this is interesting, 807 00:46:01,200 --> 00:46:03,480 Speaker 1: I've never heard about this about Isaac Asimo. But yeah, 808 00:46:03,680 --> 00:46:06,520 Speaker 1: same thing. My grandfather was a doctor, uh, and he 809 00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:10,600 Speaker 1: contracted HIV when he had heart surgery. Uh. And of course, 810 00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:13,400 Speaker 1: because he was a doctor, he didn't want to lash 811 00:46:13,400 --> 00:46:15,880 Speaker 1: out of the medical community or the hospital where he 812 00:46:15,960 --> 00:46:18,080 Speaker 1: was treated at. And so you know, it was just 813 00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:21,839 Speaker 1: something that we dealt with now in in in the 814 00:46:21,880 --> 00:46:25,120 Speaker 1: case of figuring out what went on with Douga. What's 815 00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:29,280 Speaker 1: really interesting here is they used similar techniques to those 816 00:46:29,360 --> 00:46:32,760 Speaker 1: that are used to decipher the badly degraded ancient DNA 817 00:46:32,920 --> 00:46:35,600 Speaker 1: from fossils. So what they did was they found that 818 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:39,440 Speaker 1: the viral DNA was so genetically diverse that the viruses 819 00:46:39,560 --> 00:46:43,319 Speaker 1: must have been circulating in cities for years prior to 820 00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:45,719 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy eight, which is how they picked up all 821 00:46:45,760 --> 00:46:49,640 Speaker 1: these variations. So the researchers believe that HIV first jump 822 00:46:49,680 --> 00:46:52,880 Speaker 1: to United States from Haiti somewhere around nineteen seventy or 823 00:46:52,960 --> 00:46:55,960 Speaker 1: nineteen seventy one. The samples that they looked at all 824 00:46:56,080 --> 00:46:59,120 Speaker 1: came from the same family tree of HIV and these 825 00:46:59,120 --> 00:47:02,000 Speaker 1: were all the same as the one from the Caribbeans. 826 00:47:02,080 --> 00:47:06,480 Speaker 1: So that suggests that the HIV virus spread from Africa 827 00:47:06,719 --> 00:47:09,239 Speaker 1: to the Caribbean and then to the United States. But 828 00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:12,560 Speaker 1: then again because of some specific markers, they think New 829 00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:17,600 Speaker 1: York was where it specifically went to from the Caribbean 830 00:47:17,760 --> 00:47:21,000 Speaker 1: somehow through these blood plasma products. You know, it's it's 831 00:47:21,040 --> 00:47:24,600 Speaker 1: interesting here because we've discussed the you know, the idea 832 00:47:24,680 --> 00:47:28,560 Speaker 1: that these are these are things that emerge from less 833 00:47:28,640 --> 00:47:31,600 Speaker 1: civilized places. They emerge in the wild right in the 834 00:47:31,760 --> 00:47:36,000 Speaker 1: rural areas, but at the same time large centers of population, 835 00:47:36,040 --> 00:47:39,960 Speaker 1: including places like New York Um. You know, certainly one 836 00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:43,200 Speaker 1: of the more the more famous metro metropolitan areas in 837 00:47:43,200 --> 00:47:45,879 Speaker 1: the world. Like a modern city of there there ever 838 00:47:46,239 --> 00:47:51,000 Speaker 1: was one like these are classic incubation sites for the 839 00:47:51,120 --> 00:47:53,120 Speaker 1: illnesses and disease. When you look back at the history 840 00:47:53,160 --> 00:47:57,120 Speaker 1: of infectious disease, uh, for for human beings like this 841 00:47:57,200 --> 00:47:59,400 Speaker 1: is that we see this time and time again. People 842 00:47:59,400 --> 00:48:02,759 Speaker 1: come together, they create these cities. And certainly cities are 843 00:48:02,800 --> 00:48:07,400 Speaker 1: great for for enterprise, for for economics, for cultural ideas, 844 00:48:07,440 --> 00:48:10,919 Speaker 1: but they are also places where diseases uh pick up stain. 845 00:48:11,040 --> 00:48:14,480 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, absolutely. I mean I love New York. It's 846 00:48:14,520 --> 00:48:16,560 Speaker 1: one of my favorite places in the world to be. 847 00:48:16,840 --> 00:48:19,480 Speaker 1: But anytime I get on the subway and in New York, 848 00:48:19,560 --> 00:48:21,839 Speaker 1: I've just like it's almost like I get this like 849 00:48:22,000 --> 00:48:24,800 Speaker 1: special vision where all I'm seeing is just like creepy 850 00:48:24,840 --> 00:48:28,799 Speaker 1: crawley potential viruses or bacteria just on everything you know, 851 00:48:29,120 --> 00:48:32,200 Speaker 1: and you just have to go with it, right uh. 852 00:48:32,239 --> 00:48:35,080 Speaker 1: And And of course that's why New York works so well. 853 00:48:35,120 --> 00:48:38,279 Speaker 1: And like apocalyptic disease fiction like the stand right, Like, 854 00:48:38,640 --> 00:48:42,440 Speaker 1: remember there's that scene in The Stand where the Lincoln Tunnel, 855 00:48:42,480 --> 00:48:45,200 Speaker 1: I believe it is, is like all completely backed up 856 00:48:45,280 --> 00:48:48,160 Speaker 1: because everybody just died in their cars and one of 857 00:48:48,200 --> 00:48:51,440 Speaker 1: the characters has to like crawl through the Lincoln Tunnel 858 00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:55,200 Speaker 1: on the pitch black dark, surrounded by all these diseased corpses. 859 00:48:55,239 --> 00:48:58,320 Speaker 1: And it's of course New York makes sense for that setting. 860 00:48:58,640 --> 00:49:01,719 Speaker 1: All right, So we've been we've been dancing around this, 861 00:49:02,040 --> 00:49:04,439 Speaker 1: but yeah, we really come back to this idea, is that, well, 862 00:49:04,440 --> 00:49:06,840 Speaker 1: why do we why do where are we so drawn 863 00:49:06,880 --> 00:49:10,640 Speaker 1: to this idea of patient zero? Why is this this trope? 864 00:49:10,640 --> 00:49:16,880 Speaker 1: Why is this mythic um description? Uh so irresistible? Like 865 00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:19,279 Speaker 1: even if we were not, even if we don't want 866 00:49:19,280 --> 00:49:22,239 Speaker 1: to consciously invoke it, we end up thinking about it. 867 00:49:22,880 --> 00:49:25,280 Speaker 1: And uh and this is this has been a topic 868 00:49:25,320 --> 00:49:28,040 Speaker 1: of some consideration by a number of authors out there. 869 00:49:28,040 --> 00:49:30,279 Speaker 1: There's one piece in particular that came out in Ian 870 00:49:30,320 --> 00:49:34,759 Speaker 1: magazine recently. Um and this is from Leila me and 871 00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:37,560 Speaker 1: in the title of the pieces, the Seductive Lie of 872 00:49:37,600 --> 00:49:40,399 Speaker 1: Patient Zero and the Outbreak Narrative. And I just want 873 00:49:40,440 --> 00:49:41,920 Speaker 1: to read a quick quote from it because I thought 874 00:49:41,960 --> 00:49:45,000 Speaker 1: she really summed summed it up rather nicely. The allure 875 00:49:45,040 --> 00:49:47,600 Speaker 1: of patient zero rests on the ways in which the 876 00:49:47,680 --> 00:49:51,480 Speaker 1: figure allows us to assign responsibility and blame when an 877 00:49:51,520 --> 00:49:55,880 Speaker 1: outbreak occurs. It makes visible the vectors of disease transmission 878 00:49:56,239 --> 00:49:59,960 Speaker 1: and draws attention to the dangers of human contact, creating 879 00:50:00,080 --> 00:50:03,239 Speaker 1: distance between the afflicted and the rest of us. When 880 00:50:03,280 --> 00:50:08,239 Speaker 1: patient zero is defined as someone with distinguishing traits of behavior, sexuality, 881 00:50:08,320 --> 00:50:11,799 Speaker 1: or race, then those of us with differing characteristics can 882 00:50:11,880 --> 00:50:15,480 Speaker 1: reassure ourselves that we are not at risk. A patient 883 00:50:15,640 --> 00:50:19,080 Speaker 1: zero lacks both the capacity for self control and the 884 00:50:19,120 --> 00:50:22,439 Speaker 1: moral conviction to avoid placing others in danger. The more 885 00:50:22,480 --> 00:50:25,719 Speaker 1: he or she strays from established norms, the greater the 886 00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:31,760 Speaker 1: opportunity for reprobation. Yeah. So basically what she's saying here 887 00:50:32,040 --> 00:50:35,160 Speaker 1: is when we stray from the status quo, that's when 888 00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:39,359 Speaker 1: we allow disease to happen. Uh. The idea being that 889 00:50:39,440 --> 00:50:44,239 Speaker 1: patient zeros are culpable, that they're responsible for what they've done. Now, 890 00:50:44,280 --> 00:50:47,879 Speaker 1: the Douga legend of him going around and having sex 891 00:50:47,880 --> 00:50:50,120 Speaker 1: with two and fifty people and then saying ha ha 892 00:50:50,120 --> 00:50:53,279 Speaker 1: ha I gave you Aid's plays very well into that. 893 00:50:53,400 --> 00:50:55,880 Speaker 1: But as we've seen with a lot of these other cases, 894 00:50:56,280 --> 00:51:00,520 Speaker 1: that's not always accurate, right, Yeah, and it's I mean, 895 00:51:00,600 --> 00:51:04,120 Speaker 1: it comes comes back around to to this, this, this 896 00:51:04,480 --> 00:51:08,399 Speaker 1: trend throughout human culture to confuse illness with some sort 897 00:51:08,440 --> 00:51:12,359 Speaker 1: of a moral uh disfigurement to I mean, or any 898 00:51:12,400 --> 00:51:15,080 Speaker 1: kind of disfigurement really like a physical disfigurement, means your 899 00:51:15,080 --> 00:51:18,080 Speaker 1: soul is twisted in some way, shape or form, right Uh. 900 00:51:18,120 --> 00:51:20,480 Speaker 1: And and even no matter how much we try and 901 00:51:20,520 --> 00:51:23,279 Speaker 1: distance ourselves from that sort of illogical thinking, it has 902 00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:26,360 Speaker 1: a way of creeping back into our to our judgment 903 00:51:27,239 --> 00:51:31,360 Speaker 1: um in the narrative. Here this this this agent zero narrative, 904 00:51:31,360 --> 00:51:34,759 Speaker 1: because this gives us someone to blame off, an escapegoat. Yeah, 905 00:51:34,760 --> 00:51:37,040 Speaker 1: and other that makes us feel safer because we can 906 00:51:37,080 --> 00:51:40,360 Speaker 1: always say, well, I'm not Asian, or I'm not poor, 907 00:51:40,400 --> 00:51:43,560 Speaker 1: I'm not homosexual, I'm not this that or the other. 908 00:51:43,640 --> 00:51:46,640 Speaker 1: Whatever makes us feel a little safe. And you know, 909 00:51:46,760 --> 00:51:49,719 Speaker 1: I I think we all find ourselves engaging in some 910 00:51:49,880 --> 00:51:52,600 Speaker 1: level of this when dealing with illness, because just the 911 00:51:52,600 --> 00:51:55,960 Speaker 1: other day I was talking with my wife about about 912 00:51:56,160 --> 00:51:59,680 Speaker 1: our you know, illness creeping into our own family, and uh, 913 00:51:59,800 --> 00:52:02,359 Speaker 1: we're saying, well, you know, we we eat really healthily, Like, 914 00:52:02,520 --> 00:52:04,839 Speaker 1: how how come this is happening to us? And of 915 00:52:04,880 --> 00:52:08,080 Speaker 1: course that that's simplistic thinking on our part, because yes, 916 00:52:08,120 --> 00:52:10,560 Speaker 1: you know, healthy, healthy diet is important that you know, 917 00:52:10,560 --> 00:52:14,680 Speaker 1: boost t immune uh system, etcetera. But to think of 918 00:52:14,719 --> 00:52:18,160 Speaker 1: it as this this barrier, as this golden shield against 919 00:52:18,360 --> 00:52:22,960 Speaker 1: infectious agents that do not work so simplistically. Um, you 920 00:52:23,000 --> 00:52:25,480 Speaker 1: know that that that that gets in the way of 921 00:52:25,800 --> 00:52:30,279 Speaker 1: proper um protection and understanding of these illnesses. Yeah, you 922 00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:32,800 Speaker 1: also have a four year old who's coming into contact 923 00:52:32,880 --> 00:52:35,640 Speaker 1: with all these other four ales who are wiping I 924 00:52:35,640 --> 00:52:39,080 Speaker 1: imagine their their noses or their hands on their mouths 925 00:52:39,160 --> 00:52:41,960 Speaker 1: or whatever and touching each other and then coming home. Yeah, 926 00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:45,120 Speaker 1: you want to talk about incubators for illness. Yeah, any 927 00:52:45,120 --> 00:52:47,880 Speaker 1: pre k kindergarten, first grade scenario is going to be 928 00:52:47,960 --> 00:52:50,719 Speaker 1: exactly that. But you know, at at the heart of 929 00:52:50,719 --> 00:52:52,319 Speaker 1: it that we we want to put a face with 930 00:52:52,360 --> 00:52:54,799 Speaker 1: a threat and then we want to reassure ourselves that 931 00:52:54,800 --> 00:52:57,560 Speaker 1: that face is not our own. And I feel as 932 00:52:57,600 --> 00:53:00,640 Speaker 1: we experience, uh you, we experience some like this when 933 00:53:00,640 --> 00:53:02,600 Speaker 1: we even say, look at mug shots and we we 934 00:53:02,640 --> 00:53:04,560 Speaker 1: want to see the victims of crimes. We want to 935 00:53:04,560 --> 00:53:07,279 Speaker 1: see what they looked like. We have to know the 936 00:53:07,320 --> 00:53:12,480 Speaker 1: face of the afflect, afflicted or affected individual so that 937 00:53:12,520 --> 00:53:17,040 Speaker 1: we can evaluate our own standing in relationship to them, 938 00:53:17,280 --> 00:53:20,319 Speaker 1: right Yeah, And like with all culture, it's basically us 939 00:53:20,320 --> 00:53:23,000 Speaker 1: trying to figure out how the world works by creating 940 00:53:23,520 --> 00:53:27,359 Speaker 1: a story that we can understand, right Uh. And but 941 00:53:27,440 --> 00:53:30,640 Speaker 1: I think like if you sort of peel the layers 942 00:53:30,680 --> 00:53:34,200 Speaker 1: away from that story, you see necessary It isn't necessarily 943 00:53:34,239 --> 00:53:37,160 Speaker 1: always the case with these quote patient zeros. In fact, 944 00:53:37,360 --> 00:53:40,799 Speaker 1: the term itself is such a misnomer really, index case 945 00:53:40,840 --> 00:53:45,160 Speaker 1: seems to be more responsible term. Ye. So you know, 946 00:53:45,640 --> 00:53:47,800 Speaker 1: as we've just said, over the last two weeks, Robert 947 00:53:47,840 --> 00:53:50,360 Speaker 1: and I have been battling off illness. It's that time 948 00:53:50,400 --> 00:53:52,719 Speaker 1: of year. Also, I think a lot of stuff is 949 00:53:52,719 --> 00:53:55,319 Speaker 1: going around. So maybe those of you out there that 950 00:53:55,360 --> 00:53:58,200 Speaker 1: are listening can relate to this. If you want to 951 00:53:58,239 --> 00:53:59,560 Speaker 1: get in touch with us and you want to let 952 00:53:59,640 --> 00:54:03,040 Speaker 1: us know your thoughts on the patient zero narrative or 953 00:54:03,200 --> 00:54:07,960 Speaker 1: just you know, in general, how disease is transmissible, you 954 00:54:07,960 --> 00:54:11,120 Speaker 1: can always hit us up on social media. We are 955 00:54:11,200 --> 00:54:17,279 Speaker 1: on Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, and Instagram. And hey, if you 956 00:54:17,280 --> 00:54:21,320 Speaker 1: want to you've specifically the discussion of AIDS and HIV 957 00:54:21,840 --> 00:54:23,480 Speaker 1: was of interest to you and you want to learn more. 958 00:54:23,880 --> 00:54:26,760 Speaker 1: UH we do recommend checking out the International AIDS Society 959 00:54:26,840 --> 00:54:29,520 Speaker 1: or i A S. You can find them at www 960 00:54:29,640 --> 00:54:33,080 Speaker 1: dot i A Society dot org and if you want 961 00:54:33,080 --> 00:54:36,239 Speaker 1: to send us an email, just simply shoot us your 962 00:54:36,320 --> 00:54:39,759 Speaker 1: missive at Blow the Mind at how stuff works dot 963 00:54:39,800 --> 00:54:51,520 Speaker 1: com for more on this and thousands of other topics. 964 00:54:51,600 --> 00:55:05,080 Speaker 1: Because at how stuff works dot com, I think they 965 00:55:05,120 --> 00:55:12,719 Speaker 1: may joint to foot part propos Part FO