This is an Ebola Episode

In this episode, Mattie walks us through Ebola as it returns to the headlines for the first time in years. She covers what the virus is, its history dating back to the 1976 outbreak near the Ebola River, how it spreads, and the treatments and vaccines in development. Then she gets into the current Bundibugyo outbreak in the DRC's Ituri province (now spilled into Uganda and declared a public health emergency), and why the response is not ideal, thanks to the dismantling of USAID, the US withdrawal from the WHO, and CDC cuts. She also unpacks the Trump administration's plan to build an Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya, a country that has never recorded a case.

This episode's good news revolves around 1) a judge overturning the cancellation of $82.1 million in clean energy grants, and 2) major health insurers committing to cover all vaccines at no cost through 2027. Also, stick around to hear Ariel discuss Ladies First on Netflix and how she connects it to public health.

Recalls: 

Find all recent recalls at: https://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls-market-withdrawals-safety-alerts

• 6/13/2026: Nara Organics, Whole Milk Powdered Infant Formula, Botulism Risk.
• 6/12/26: Azuma Foods, Seasoned Octopus with Wasabi, may contain undeclared fish.
• 06/12/26: Beekeeper's Naturals, Saline Nasal Spray, may contain Aspergillus spp.
• 06/11/26: TNVitamins (VITA-MINS) and Doctor's Pride, possible Salmonella contamination
• 06/09/26: Clover Hill Dairy, Soft Ricotta/Requeson Cheese, potentially contaminated with Listeria
• 06/08/26: BD, ChloraPrep Clear, possible fungal contamination 
• 06/08/26: Freeze Dried Chicken Recipe Cat & Dog Food, may contain low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1)
• 06/05/26: Requeson 1lb Clamshell packages, possible listeria contamination
• 06/05/26: Up & Up Fragrance Free Baby Wipes AND Up & Up Fresh Cucumber Baby Wipes, may be contaminated with Burkholderia cepacia and Burholderia gladioli
• 06/05/26: Pearl Milling Company, Mezcla Para Panqueques Y Waffles, Debido a la presencia no declarada de leche y soya
• 06/04/26: No brand, Dried Herring Fish, may harbor botulinum 
• 06/04/26: Gas-X Extra Strength (softgels 120 & 72ct), potential chemical contamination
• 06/03/26: TNVita Ultra Potent Complete Green Superfood Capsules and Doctor's Pride, Salmonella
• 06/01/26: Motor City Pizza Cheese Bread Single, Salmonella

Transcript

Speaker 0:06

Welcome to Public Health Group Chat, the podcast that won't lie to Kyle Clark if he were to ask us how many adults we've killed as an adult. And if you're not aware of what this is referencing, this is referencing the insanity that is the Colorado governor race for the Republican primary. And if you need a good recap of it, there's a really fun video by John Oliver on his show last week tonight on his Instagram. Covers it perfectly. It's insane.

Mattie 0:40

Especially when the dog made eye contact.

Speaker 0:42

Oh, that was really funny.

Mattie 0:44

I didn't know dogs were allowed to be involved in debates for primaries.

Speaker 0:47

Nothing makes sense anymore. So yeah, fuck yeah, bring your dog. I don't know.

Mattie 0:50

The fact that he used the dog as evidence that he ordered civilian strikes and he was like, the dog wouldn't lie to you.

Speaker 0:56

And the dog is just staring into the camera like Jim from the office, like that breaking that fourth wall. Like, do not involve me. Hilarious.

Mattie 1:06

Anyways, I'm Olivia. My name is Ariel. And I'm Maddie. And all views expressed on this episode are our own. If you want to get in touch with us, you can find us at publichealth group chat at gmail.com. We are on Instagram and TikTok at public health group chat. And we now have merch at t public. So if you want a really cool public health group chat shirt, socks, sweatshirt, tote bag, magnet, or a number of other items, hats, pillows, you can find our store in the show notes. We will throw that link in there for you. Show everyone who your favorite podcast is. And get the word out. And match us. The biggest things you can do for us is to rate the podcast on your given platform. And then also potentially consider subscribing because we're rolling out subscriber-only episodes, and those are gonna be really fun. So it's where you're gonna see the most of personality poo we are and also the most sass for sure.

Speaker 2:06

If you enjoy chaos, come join.

Mattie 2:08

Pay us. Pay us.

Speaker 2:10

Pay us and come hang out.

Mattie 2:11

For chaos. All right, for our public health good news. Just announced days ago, um, a judge overturned the Department of Energy's cancellation of $82.1 million in clean energy grants. And that cancellation occurred back in October of 2025, and it looks like it finally was reviewed by a judge. There's 11 plaintiffs located in New York, Oregon, Connecticut, Minnesota, and Colorado. There were projects that were canceled. You know, their grants got canceled. And they were targeted within those states because those states primarily voted for Vice President Kamala Harris to be our next president, RIP. And so the US Department of Energy is expected to reinstate $82.1 million in funding for those canceled clean energy grants. Second piece of good news just announced today on June 15th, 2025, major health insurers announced that they will cover all vaccines at no cost through 2027, regardless of federal guidance of ACIP decisions. Typically, they don't act without waiting for federal direction, but it's great to see this coming out regardless, because it's been such a weird political last two years when it comes to deciding if these immunizations are covered at no cost. And it also bars people and their access to vaccines if insurers don't cover the vaccines. And so it's just a fantastic outcome, especially given all that RFK Jr. has been doing to the committee. It's a good outcome. Truly amazing. I can't think of another time when health insurers have done the right thing. Yeah, really. If those are the good people in the fight, then that tells you how bad things are. So you going into 2027, if you have a major health insurer, your vaccine should be covered. Get vaccinated. Get vaccinated. Hell yeah. And I am saying this to my husband who, above all odds, decided not to get the COVID vaccine this last year. Yes, I know I'm saying this on the podcast. People, please go find him. He's actually not online, so you're just gonna have to find him in person to shame him, which makes this even more fun. He didn't, and then he got COVID and he regretted every aspect of it. I want to be clear, it wasn't like an anti-vaccine decision to not get the vaccine. He just has that, like when he gets the COVID vaccine, he feels like he has the flu and is gonna die for a day. So he was like, I can't take a day, like it always sucks when I get it. And then he got COVID and was out for two weeks. So yep.

Speaker 4:42

If it wouldn't also involve you, I would be like pro doxing. Let's just put his email on the internet and tell people to write in. Um no, we shouldn't do that. But you could just email us hate mail for Daniel and I'll get it to him. Oh yeah, we'll forward it on.

unknown 4:56

Yeah.

Speaker 4:56

That's a good that's a better point.

Mattie 4:57

And everyone, he did learn his lesson. Okay. Like the man learned his lesson.

Speaker 5:03

Be like Daniel in other aspects, but not like that.

Mattie 5:05

Yeah, he's a good husband. He's just that was a bad decision. All right. Um, what's our main topic today?

Speaker 5:12

Well, our main topic today is something that has been very much in the news and I think very much on social media because it is a very hot button topic that we have not heard about in a couple years. Today we are talking about Ebola. Um, before we get started, we have talked about Ebola on the podcast before, not in great depth, but in the fact that it scares a lot of us.

Mattie 5:33

Yeah, Ebola is the reason I got into public health, which is funny. The first the Ebola outbreak that I remember was the 2014 Ebola outbreak. It was my sophomore going into my junior year of undergrad at Emory, and we at Emory in the CDC, they had a containment area. And the doctor, the American doctor who ended up getting Ebola, came and they rehabilitated him at Emory. And I was working at the university hospital there, and I met his family, and it was just like everything was all about infectious disease. And it kind of just got me on that trajectory. So I have a lot of respect for the CDC, and I have a lot of respect for, unfortunately, to say this out loud, Ebola for getting me interested in infectious disease. But what's happening right now is terrible. Yes. Ariel, what about you? No thoughts here, other than I know it's a hemorrhagic fever virus, but I really don't know much about it. It's just that it gives me the heebies again learn.

Speaker 6:30

We're gonna talk about it today. But to Olivia, to one of your points, though, I think it's so interesting. I feel like every infectious disease person has like a disease origin story because mine's bird flu. So when you were talking about that, I was like, my infectious disease origin story is bird flu.

Mattie 6:45

Yeah, it's so funny how that happens. There's always one.

Speaker 6:48

There's always one. Everybody's got their one.

Mattie 6:50

And it's usually a pretty scary one, too.

Speaker 6:52

Yeah, like they're pretty freaky, but they're the scary ones. A close second of mine is Nipa. Okay, shall we get into it? Ebola has been in the news for the outbreak of the Bundabuggyo virus in the Aturi province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And it has been declared by the WHO as a public health emergency of international concern and a public health emergency of continental security by the WHO and the Africa CDC, respectively. And the first known case of this outbreak was on April 24th of a nurse who developed symptoms and then later passed. So as of June 10th, I got this from the WHO. So their reporting is a little bit delayed. So the most recent numbers that I can find that was from like a health organization was this. And for a reference, we were recording on June 15th. They released it every Tuesday, so that's why I have to do last week's because we won't get it till tomorrow. There is a cumulative of 676 confirmed cases, including 136 deaths that have been reported from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And then as of June 11th, Uganda has reported 19 confirmed cases, including two deaths, and another probable case on top of that of somebody who has died, but it was not confirmed. The outbreak in Uganda remains epidemiologically linked to the transmission that has originated in the DRC, so it's the same outbreak with a case fatality rate of about 20% overall. And this is likely a major underestimation because deaths could have occurred before the outbreak was declared. And there's a high likelihood that the outbreak is spreading more in the community and there's just not cases being caught. The International Rescue Committee stated that this uh outbreak may have been spreading since March of this year and wasn't detected until late April, early May. And there's a huge backlog and testing contributing to this thought, too. There are shortages of the diagnostic cartridges leading to slower confirmation of cases. And then with that, there's been seven confirmed Ebola patients that were allowed to leave treatment centers in the DRC by accident because they didn't have the right test results. Sweet. Okay. So what is Ebola? Ebola disease is caused by viruses that belong to the ortho Ebola virus genus of the Phyloviridae family. I love that I got stumped on genus and not either of those big words. And so within Ebola virus, there are six species, um, but three are known to cause the large outbreaks that you're gonna see in the news. So that's Ebola virus or Xyra, as it's sometimes referred to, Sudan virus, and Bunabuggyo virus, which is the one that's currently making the rounds in the news now. So it is estimated that without treatment, up to 90% of cases of these viruses within this family can be fatal during these big outbreaks. Now that we know what Ebola virus is, let's talk about the history. So Ebola disease first occurred in 1976 and two simultaneous outbreaks, one of Sudan virus in current day South Sudan, and the other of Ebola virus in the current day DRC. The Ebola virus occurred in a village near the Ebola River, which is where it gets its name from. The natural host in the reservoir of the family of viruses is thought to be fruit bats, specifically those of the pteropodidae family. The viruses are zoonotic viruses, and that means they can jump from one population of animals to another, from that population to humans, and some animals that are known to carry this disease are chimpanzees, gorillas, monkeys, forest antelope, or porcupines, which is very interesting.

Mattie 10:08

So it is like if a bat infected a primate, and then a human had contact with a primate, we can get Ebola.

Speaker 10:16

Yes, with the infected primate, yeah. Interesting. Okay. Yeah, so it's basically come into contact with the virus. So that's like whether that's from fruit bats, another animal, hopefully not a porcupine, that just sounds kind of spooky. So aside from animal to human transmission, there is a lot of human-to-human transmission that can occur. And this happens when a person comes into direct contact with the blood or bodily fluids of an infected person or objects or surfaces that have been contaminated with those bodily fluids from people who are sick. Um, and you are only infectious with Ebola virus when you are showing symptoms, but you can remain infectious as long as your blood contains the virus. You can stay infectious for a while, but you are not infectious before you're showing symptoms.

Mattie 10:58

That's good. We don't need asymptomatic transmission in this case.

Speaker 11:02

Yeah, that would be really scary. If that happens, we're all fadey fucked. Um it's one thing that makes it a lot more trackable, is that if you are actively symptomatic, I will say one part is is the symptoms initially when you start getting sick are like fever, fatigue, muscle pain, sore throat. That is kind of tough. I don't know how many times someone's like, Oh, I have a fever, it must be something else, and they don't think Ebola. Maybe in this time now that it's an active outbreak, that's a little bit different.

Mattie 11:32

You're also infectious if you're dead, right? That's another thing.

Speaker 11:36

Yeah. So in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a lot of like their cultural aspects around burials involve you need to like touch the body in order for it to be like a proper burial. And then a lot of like shaking hands and greeting each other like during the funeral, too. That was a big hurdle that everyone who was doing a lot of the outbreak had to kind of figure out how they were gonna navigate while still having dignified burials that were respectful of the culture while still protecting people from getting Ebola from the bodies of the deceased.

Mattie 12:06

Okay, I have so many questions for you. I'm sorry. So we know that the transmission is like exposure to the bodily fluids. If I have bodily fluids on my hands and I touch my mouth, my nose, or my eyes is what you're saying, right? It doesn't have to be intravenously to my blood. Right. Yeah. Okay.

Speaker 12:22

It's just if you have a cut or if you were a healthcare worker and your PPE doesn't work and like someone throws up on you. The incubation period, so from when you're infected to when your symptoms start, is between two to 21 days. And your symptoms can include fever, fatigue, muscle pain, sore throat. So these are things that can like a lot of times be misconstrued as other diseases. And then it'll be followed by vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, rash, and impaired kidney and liver functions. And then very late stages, it is possible to have that stereotypical bleeding that's associated with hemorrhagic fever. So like internal bleeding, external bleeding, lots of bleeding.

Mattie 12:58

Yeah. And so you were saying earlier that transmission from like animal to animal was, you know, blood secretions, organs, etc. But like let's say like someone's taking care of somebody else that has Ebola and is like uh covered in PPE and wants to prevent exposure. Are we talking like something minuscule like sweat could be a potential exposure trans route?

Speaker 13:18

Yes, sweat is a potential exposure. Oh shit. Yeah. Especially with a fever and you're sweaty all the time. Yeah. Yeah. That's terrifying. So, like I mentioned, initial symptoms are super common with other uh diseases in this region. So confirmation testing is important. And so your gold star testing is going to be your RTPCR and your ELISA testing or cell culture isolation and then antigen capture tests as well. There is guidance on how to provide best care for patients to improve survival, but a lot of it is supportive care. There's not like any sort of treatment per se, especially for the outbreak that's currently going on. They do have monoclonal antibodies for Ebola virus, but not for um Sudan virus or bun debuggio.

Mattie 14:03

And the Bun Debuggio version of this virus is what is happening now in DRC. Correct. And well, just technically in the Congo. It's not just DRC now, right? Okay. The Congo would be the DRC and then the Republic Congo.

Speaker 14:16

Yeah, there's the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and then this outbreak is also happening in Uganda. There's like a corridor where they touch that it is common for that to spill over. And we'll talk about that too, because there's a lot of conflict in the armed conflict in the area, which is causing a lot of people to move across borders, bringing diseases with them. We'll touch on that later. So the monoclonal antibodies will only work for Ebola virus. That is not going to be effective with Bunabug Yo right now. And so, but CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, is accelerating the development of three vaccines candidate for the strain. So you might have seen this in the news. There's one out of Oxford that I think was the one that was making all the headlines. Um, and then this is crucial for curbing the outbreak as vaccine efforts help prevent so many more infections. And that has been the key to stopping a lot of the Xaire and Ebola virus outbreaks in the past. So prevention and control of Ebola heavily relies on community engagement, things like contact tracing, lab testing, infection prevention in healthcare settings, safe and dignified burials, and vaccination. And like I said, vaccines were key in stopping other outbreaks from growing bigger. Then another part of this is the care for the survivors. Ebola is sexually transmitted. And there have been outbreaks that have been caused by sexual transmission. So education around safe sex practices is important for survivors. So to confirm that you're good to go back to your normally scheduled programming when it comes to sex, you have to have monthly semen testing until you've had two consecutive negative test results. You can still have virus in your semen for like up to 80 days after recovery. So that is another crucial part is making sure you're having safe sex.

Mattie 15:57

Yeah, I don't trust men.

Speaker 15:58

I don't trust men either.

Mattie 16:00

Um just walking around with Ebola in their semen. Like, could they be worse than they already are?

Speaker 16:06

Apparently. Apparently, it's Ebola in your semen. I read a paper once that the virus can stay alive in semen for up to like 79 days after recovery. It's something crazy like that. Yeah.

unknown 16:18

Yeah.

Mattie 16:18

And there's no evidence that it can be spread through contact with vaginal fluids, just semen from a person who has recovered from Ebola disease or actively symptomatic. Another reason that women are better.

Speaker 16:29

Facts. And again, we also have to talk about outbreak in the case of Ebola, is like one case. So there have been like smaller outbreaks over the course of time where an outbreak is like one, two people.

Mattie 16:41

Um question for both of you are there any other infectious diseases that you know of that just hangs out in the semen for that long? Zika. Zika.

Speaker 16:53

You owe me a vaccine. I know. That was like both you and I immediately were like, Zika. I don't know. Well, obviously, like GAIDS. I don't think there's anything else. I have a fun story. No, tell me about your story. Sorry. I was just, I was more just like, I don't, I can't think of anything else.

Mattie 17:07

You do know that I got Zika from Daniel. Since we're just talking shit about Daniel today and he's in the city.

Speaker 17:12

Zika from Daniel? What the fuck, Daniel?

Mattie 17:14

I'm gonna say this right now. My husband is well vaccinated, other than this last year. And then Zika, this wasn't a situation where there was a vaccine. And he went to Samoa, non-American Samoa, and he got really sick. And they were like staying on an outdoor area. He was like, Oh, we use mosquito nets. And it was for like a psychology class in undergrad. We've been together forever. And he came back after being sick for like two solid weeks. He had conjunctivitis. He had a like serious strep throat situation. He felt like he was on his deathbed for a while, blah, blah, blah. Got covered in mosquito bites. And I was like, conjunctivitis is a pretty big sign. Yeah, really sexy. He was covered in mosquito bites after not seeing for five weeks all of this, and I was still like, I'm down. Um, and then I'm pretty sure I got it sexually transmitted because I got so sick for like a week and a half. Fun fact.

Speaker 18:01

That is a crazy story. I have never heard about you, and I feel like I would have heard about sooner.

Mattie 18:06

I honestly think we need to cut it out and keep it for a big. That's so crazy. We never got a confirmation test. Like I wasn't like, you should go to an infectious disease. This was before I was, this is like my the year between my bachelor's degree and my MPH.

Speaker 18:20

Anyways. Yeah, it's so crazy. I love the Daniel slanderer. Who are we gonna slander next time? Should it be Kyle or should it be Dustin?

Mattie 18:29

Dustin, because he tried to shush me in my own house. Oh my gosh, Olivia, when we were gonna record Thursday and before we canceled, he goes, tell Olivia. I say, shh shh. And you know what? I knew it was happening, and that's why I canceled on your mask. So you can tell him I'll see you in Newcastle in July, bitch.

Speaker 18:53

Podcast where our husbands shush each other.

Mattie 18:58

How about you shush him when you come here?

unknown 19:00

Oh yes.

Mattie 19:01

Oh, I'll yeah, no, I will for sure.

Speaker 19:03

I'll wait for the perfect. Can we get a button that just goes shh sh and it's just a living white sh- I mean those dogs have the buttons that you talk. We should be able to get a button like that. Oh my god. Okay, so we're gonna talk about a really fascinating cultural impact of Ebola viruses. So burial ceremonies in this area involve direct contact with the body of the deceased. And it's easy for us to say, like, well, then just don't touch them. But that is very dismissive of the cultural practices in the area and doesn't promote trust between the community and outbreak support, which is super crucial in controlling these outbreaks.

Mattie 19:37

So I think this is a good example of the importance of community integration and trust when you're dealing with outbreaks. Because understanding that if you're coming in as an outsider, which is like the basis of anthropology and global health, thinking about that, that all of our cultures are different. And so if you aren't aware of the community's culture and the way that they do things day to day, you're going to miss infection prevention that you otherwise would have known about if you were within the community.

Speaker 20:04

Yeah. And at the end of the day, the community knows themselves the best. So coming in and being like, well, I have a degree I know better than you is not gonna buy you any goodwill. And I think that has been like a major shift in global health, especially over the last like, I would say, like decade or two, is like that focus on community engagement and meeting the community where they're at and making sure that you do things in line with their culture in order to a build trust, but also make it to where the community feels like they can continue on whatever the project is or um infection prevention by themselves and have that sort of authority with it.

Mattie 20:45

And then on top of that, there's all of these years where the DRC or the Congo itself and even some of Uganda has gone through Ebola outbreaks. And so you're dealing with years and years of generational trauma from working with outside public health forces and failed responses, all during all this major conflict that you're gonna talk about, Maddie. But my point is that there's all this mass distrust in public health, and there's mass distrust in like rumors about Ebola itself and people who have Ebola. So there's there's all these things to kind of deal with as a public health response measure, but you can't do that without having community leaders on your side and supporting that.

unknown 21:23

Yeah.

Mattie 21:24

I also want to point out that you don't even have to travel to a different country to find that mistrust of public health. Thinking about working in local public health, the people working in government with the degrees, with the expertise are often not representative of the communities they're trying to serve. So even at the local level, we see like really needing to be conscious of what uh each specific population needs when you're trying to do some kind of intervention. Right. It's not just international borders, it's in your own communities.

Speaker 21:55

Right. And then along with that, too, you touched on the mistrust. In public health entities, that is not a uniquely American thing. I think every culture struggles with that. And that becomes apparent, especially in Ebola outbreaks. It's easy to spread misinformation, disinformation. Like this isn't just something that we struggle with in the US. This is like a very global issue. Yeah.

Mattie 22:17

I deal with it every day on threads. Not that you can compare this to Ebola. I'm gonna take that out.

Speaker 22:23

My problems on threads are so similar to Ebola. I love how we just say something and it's like, cut that out. Never mind. I take it back. Okay, so Ebola is a really great case for the importance of community trust within the global health community because there have been instances of healthcare workers being attacked because the community thought that they were killing people. Like you would send your loved one who wasn't feeling well, who had just like a fever, a sore throat, into one of these clinics where everyone is dressed in these hazmat suits and then they never come back out. And if there isn't sort of that communication and that trust from community leaders or other people to kind of reassure that what's happening is okay and that this is part of what will stop getting other people from getting sick, that can be really scary. Like imagine that just happening in your community. All these people who don't speak the language or come out of here from like wherever, that would be really, really difficult to cope with. And so now, in within these outbreaks, part of the outbreak response is to engage with important and trusted leaders in the community in order to help educate on the risks and the benefits of the control measures and then help identify cases while maintaining their cultural beliefs. On May 23rd of this, so this year, this outbreak, um, a hospital was set on fire in Bunya. Um, and this a second attack like that in that region in a week. No one was hurt, but 18 people did escape and were unaccounted for from the Ebola ward. And then both of these attacks were in retaliation to not being allowed access to the bodies of the deceased family and community members for proper burial. There are ways to do funerals with supervision from authorities and medical personnel, but in an outbreak that can be very difficult to do consistently, especially if it's a big outbreak. So one of the clashes specifically was in response to a local preacher, uh Sylvester Atama's passing. His parishioners wanted a traditional burial, but because he bowl victims' bodies are still so contagious that is very much discouraged. So healthcare workers were refusing to release his body, and then it led to a five-hour-long clash with security forces and community members were armed and ready to seize his remains from the hospital. But after the negotiations, they were able to have a service that was monitored by hospital personnel and soldiers. So being conscious of what's going on within the community culturally can help. So there are a lot of concerning aspects within this outbreak. Mainly that while yes, the DRC is prepared, in a sense, for Ebola outbreaks, a ton of that funding was taken out with the dismantling of USAID and with fewer resources since the US pulled out of the WHO. In February of 2025, Elon Musk told Trump that he accidentally cut funding to Ebola prevention and then restored it, but it wasn't actually restored how it needed to be. And then while that's hilarious in the worst way possible, this included the contracts for people who do contact tracing at airports, um, which was what the government is currently trying to get regular people to volunteer for.

Mattie 25:23

CDC employees. Yeah. CDC employees that they also cut and reduced in force and are asking to be authorized to volunteer their time, which they can't legally volunteer their time, but it's technically volunteering their time because they'd be transferred over from other projects that desperately need their support given that we've riffed everyone and their mother from the CDC. But yeah, not good. Not good. We could have just kept everyone at this point. Right. We had we had that built in and we cut it. If this was not real life, I would say, what a great movie.

Speaker 25:56

Seriously.

Mattie 25:57

The beginning of Contagion. Except we also need to blame Gwyneth Paltrow somehow in this episode, which I'm sure we could figure out how to do.

Speaker 26:05

So we should do an episode on goop. I want to do that.

Mattie 26:09

Yes. It's a a subscriber episode. We should 100% rip her a new one.

Speaker 26:14

Goop is goop. That's the name of the episode. I'm calling it now. I love it. Let's do it. Um, then in April of 2025, Trump told an NIH facility that was tasked with researching Ebola to halt their research. And then prior to all the doge cuts, USAID was said to, by the embassy in Kinshasa, so that's the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have provided treatment to 11 million people in the country for diseases like TB and HIV in 2024 alone. And even though that isn't Ebola, co-infections can complicate treatment or increase likelihood of death. So preventing these entirely can help people from getting other infections too. So with USAID gone, you would think to turn to the WHO. Oh, wait, but wait. The US was the top funder of the organization, and we withdrew, taking those funds with us. So then you would think to turn to the CDC. Oh, oh, wait, but wait. That was /2. So the teams that would normally be working on this are hugely diminished and way smaller than it used to be, like to the point that it's unsafe because they're so short-staffed. There was a great quote that really summed it all up. And this comes from uh Anna Tate, who is a former biosecurity strategist, a lead at the Jess, who now does uh domestic programs for a nonprofit called Project Hope. And it's uh when funding disruptions affect surveillance systems, workforce capacity, and laboratory operations, vaccination efforts, infection prevention, and community-based response activities, it becomes harder to identify cases early and mount rapid containment measures, which is what we're seeing right now with this outbreak.

Mattie 27:51

No shit, Sherlock. It's almost like we could have predicted this.

Speaker 27:55

Yeah.

Mattie 27:56

Almost.

Speaker 27:57

It's really fascinating to watch in Lifetime people realize that prevention was happening behind the scenes and you just don't see it. Like that's the whole premise of public health is prevention. And it's so unsexy and it's behind the scenes. So you think that we're not doing anything when what we're doing is working because nothing's happening. And it sucks watching this happen in real time and people like being like, oh yeah, I guess that's important. It's like no fucking shit. Okay, moving on. So as of June 1st, contact tracing in the Ituri area was at a 45.2% follow-up rate. And that is a deeply concerning low number for follow-up contact tracing because it needs to be near 100% for contact tracing to really do what it's supposed to do. That has since increased to about 71% as of June 10th, which is good, but there's like a big time gap in there that there's a lot of people lost to follow-ups. Do we know why it's increased? Um, I do not know. That is a great question. I'm sure that if they're getting more people, if it's getting bigger, so it's getting more attention, so it's getting more money. I'm not sure. That was just off the WDHL website.

Mattie 29:04

I wonder if there's like more community trust or something going on.

Speaker 29:07

Great question, though. I don't have an answer, unfortunately. Other provinces in that area that are experiencing some cases are closer to 80%, which is better. And all of those who are not monitored or who are lost to follow-up become potential new chains of transmission that can continue to fuel the outbreak, which is concerning. So the Ministry of Health has stated that none of the Ebola treatment centers are meeting the standards in Aturi, and other regions are experiencing shortages of essential support medications. And then there are also PPE and chlorine shortages throughout the region as well. So there's a lot of really bad things that are kind of counteractive to actually helping this outbreak or preventing it or stopping it in its tracks. Yeah. Because PPE is so important. And then you also have to have, like, if you can't keep new PPE supplies, you have to have ways to keep it clean and it's a whole mess. And that's how you protect the healthcare workers.

Mattie 29:59

You also need to educate people how to use it. You just give somebody a mask, and we all know how that turned out in COVID. Access to resources are just step one versus like we used to send people that were USAID contract to teach healthcare workers how to make sure they were staying safe. And that's not all healthcare workers, but it's, you know, other individuals that end up volunteering as healthcare workers that need to be trained into these positions. It's yeah.

Speaker 30:22

Yeah. I think this is a great example of how layered public health is. So it's like once you uncover one thing that got defunded, it's so many other things below it that got defunded that were there to help support the community and just public health overall. Um okay. We touched on it a little bit. This outbreak is also showing that the medical misinformation and fear-mongering knows no international borders. People are fearful to go to the hospitals because there are people in the community saying it's Western medicine that's causing Ebola infections, and rumors are circulating people are better off seeking traditional medicine and staying within the community. But if people are sick and staying in the community, then there's people there to also get sick. And then it has a place to spread undetected if no one's reporting it or no one's going to a clinic. Another part of this outbreak that is spooky is um it's happening in a conflict zone. So over a quarter of a million people are displaced from their homes right now, with a lot of those people moving over into a neighboring country. So that's where we're seeing these cases pop up in Uganda. This area has a lot of different unarmed conflict groups changing and vying for power. So it makes it hard for humanitarian aid to get in there effectively, let alone the medical treatment and support needed for an Ebola outbreak. So it's like you can't you can barely get any aid in there, let alone extra aid on top of it for an outbreak. Um, and we talked about this a little bit in our public health and war episode. But armed conflict disrupts the infrastructure that's in place and makes it really difficult for aid to get in and for to the people who need it the most. And then on top of that, in an outbreak, potentially infected people are moving around and interacting with a lot of people that they normally wouldn't be interacting with, making it very difficult to contact trace. And then you can lose a lot of people to follow up, especially in an area that is like more remote or there's not a way to get a hold of other people. So there's a lot of factors in here that the conflict is making the spread of Ebola worse and probably did contribute to it taking a while to become detected too.

Mattie 32:17

Originally, there were reports that came out that part of the reason that they didn't identify this is because there was lab delays and it also took time for them to test it based on resources and whatever lab they sent it to, versus if we had USAID on the ground and we had a laboratory set up there, or if we had, you know, contracted laboratory support that was established through USAID that has been for years and years that was shut down, this would have been identified likely sooner because the spike is insane at the beginning of this outbreak and we're still identifying cases because of the lack of resources. But yeah, no, it's it just pisses me off.

Speaker 32:51

And it doesn't even need to be like a USA lab, just like any lab in the area. So, like in my previous life when I worked in global health, we did a lot of lab capacity building for different countries in Africa. And so it's like there could have been other potential places that had like the lab capacity to do the testing within Africa. But it's again, once USAID got dismantled and once all this funding got cut, outside organizations and nonprofits had to pivot. So instead of going to lab capacity building, they had to go back to just treating basic needs. And so a lot of that work that was done stopped. So a lot of the work that I did in my last job, like all of those funding resources were cut. All of that funding was lost, and all of this other stuff that was done to help build infectious disease detection capacity in that region is like gone.

Mattie 33:40

And USAID being dissolved means people and trust building systems also being dissolved. People that have worked in these communities that are being contracted through USAID. That's not just people from the United States. We're contracting money out from USAID to these community organizations. And inevitably, most of the time, those laboratories are going to be contracted out, but removing that funding means you can't continue working in those laboratories. You don't have the staff or you don't have the resources to keep running those laboratories on the ground that were that were built up through USAID, but are community-based laboratories. So it's just, it's just, yeah, like you said, a ripple effect and it's terrible.

Speaker 34:14

Yeah. And another big part of that too, like you mentioned, is you are losing those people who have built so much trust within the community. That community trust is crucial for any sort of outbreak response. So losing the people that had that trust who have lived in the community who have been there is devastating. Yeah.

Mattie 34:33

And when you talk about trust, it takes so long to build that trust and you can destroy it in an instant. And so, how long is it gonna take for us to one fund these types of projects again, whether USAID is built back up or something else is created, but then rebuilding trust because everyone's gonna remember how we just pulled the rug out from under all these communities instantly. Why would they work with us again? Like I wouldn't. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 35:00

Okay, we have one last thing about the current Ebola outbreak that I want to touch on, which has to do with the US's response to this. So the WHO has recommended against any sort of travel restrictions. I want that to be noted. But the US did whatever the fuck they wanted to, as per usual. Color me shocked. Color me shocked. The US has restricted entry for travelers that have been recently been in the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan. Um, and so what did Trump decide to do? Um, build a quarantine facility in a different resource-limited country for Americans to go to if they are exposed andor sick instead of them coming to the US, because I think he was quoted saying that like Ebola will not come to the US or touch US soil or whatever bullshit.

Mattie 35:46

Kenya situation.

Speaker 35:47

Yeah, the Kenya situation. So the idea was to build an isolation ward for Americans exposed to Ebola in Kenya. Kenya has never had a recorded case of Ebola, mind you. So this is increasing fears in the community that this will expose a country 1,500 miles away to a disease it has never seen before. And then there was a legal challenge on this. So there's a court order from Kenya's high court to halt construction, but satellite imaging has showed that it's still getting built. And then many in Kenya are protesting because their government is backing it. President William Ruto uh defended the decision, saying it would be, quote, very inhuman, end quote, for Kenya to reject the US funded facilities after years of receiving American aid. Then a former deputy to Kenya's president noted that this whole thing is kind of a double standard. And the quote was we find it unpalatable that if Americans are not willing to take care of their own patients in their own country because it's risky to the rest of the population, Americans will then decide it can be done in Kenya.

Mattie 36:43

Why the fuck was Kenya the choice? I just want to know. Did he just know one African country and was like Kenya? I don't know if it's that. I didn't really get too into the weeds of it, but um I mean, I think I'm asking you to try to be in his mindset, and you're not gonna be able to do that, Matty. No, it's crazy. You have intelligence, and intelligence is barring you from that.

Speaker 37:02

So what's that quote from Stasi from Vanderpump Rules? It's like, I am um, I am troubled. God, that fucking quote is so you have to look it up because that quote is so perfect for this exact moment. I wish I had that memorized because it is truly the best comeback in all of history.

Mattie 37:19

The only thing I have holding me back is that I have self-respect and dignity. Thank God for Kristen, who is unburdened by those anchors. Us talking about Donald Trump. Honestly, one of the best quotes in reality TV show history. And I just feel really grateful that I got to read it off of Google today for you all.

Speaker 37:40

One of the best quotes in history. God, but that's how I feel right now, trying to explain why Kenya. I'm sure there's a reason out there, but I guess my only speculation was that I wonder if Kenya is one of the 16 African countries that the Trump administration has made a deal with. So it's new, like America First um, global health initiative is making deals directly with the countries themselves. And every deal is like it has some way that benefits the US. So I don't know if that's one that Kenya is one of those countries. So I don't know. I'm speculating here. So in recent days, there are clashes at these protests, have gotten really violent, and there's been three protester deaths from excessive police force during this time with no resolution in sight. So here we are. Here we are. I don't know if I have any hopeful last thoughts other than this is ongoing. Having vaccine trials is gonna be really good, but it's gonna take another, like, I think they were estimating six months for it to be ready to go. And then even then, you have to build the trust within the community of getting vaccinated.

Mattie 38:41

I think it's probably a good note to just mention based on what's happening right now, and that we don't have trust in the CDC and that the WHO is behind on things because, well, a bunch of factors on trying to like contain this outbreak. It's just turning out to be one of the bigger outbreaks of Ebola that we've seen so far. One thing that we need to remember as Americans is that there are still good people working at the CDC that are not the political appointees. And then also the state and local public health officials are the ones that are kind of at the forefront of preventing state outbreaks, right? So, yes, the CDC is supposed to provide guidance on Ebola and infectious diseases, but like as we're having the World Cup, there's been a lot of fear about Ebola, et cetera, and other infectious diseases. But you have to remember that these public health officials that are well trained and able to keep us safe are working overtime for that. And yeah, we're definitely not in a great space because of the rifts and doge, but it's still not something that you need to be staying up at night about right now. And if that changes, I'm sure that the communicators in public health will communicate that.

Speaker 39:47

Yeah. And that's a good point that you touched on too, Olivia. What you said, there is a lot of fear around the World Cup happening. And these local public health agencies and state public health agencies are aware of what's going on and working really hard to combat that. So that is something that we have in our corner too, that we have to remember to rely on. That it's not just the CDC that's our infrastructure in the country. There are like the state and local public health authorities too.

Mattie 40:12

It's tough though. I know we all have our own trust issues with public health too. Well, thank you, Maddie. I know this is an incredibly complex topic, and I wish I could, I don't know, reverse and get a time machine and make USAID a thing again, but I think we all knew this was gonna happen and it just sucks to see it happen so quickly.

unknown 40:29

Yeah.

Mattie 40:30

And not to say that this, not to say this wouldn't have happened with USAID. I just think the response would have been way different.

Speaker 40:35

So Yeah, there would have been, like I said, the region is known for having these outbreaks, so there would have been some sort of infrastructure in place had there been a positive test comeback.

Mattie 40:46

All right. Give us some public health and pop culture, Ariel, from the Queen Who Doesn't Watch Reality TV. Yes, I'm so excited to be doing this section because it's usually one of you two, but I finally had something to add. So yeah. Something relevant.

Speaker 41:02

So I love it when Ariel texts in the group chat and is like, I want to do public health and pop culture. It's like the heavens open up, the angels are singing, and I should go buy a lottery ticket. Like that is how it feels. Okay.

Mattie 41:15

So I'm gonna talk about ladies first on Netflix with Sasha, Bear, and Cohen. Have either of you seen it? No, ma'am. All right. It's a movie, it's not multiple episodes. So if you got 90 minutes, I highly recommend watching this. But anyway, what it's about, there's an advertising executive named Damien. He is a stereotypical corporate misogynist. He's working on a campaign and promotes a woman to the marketing team of this campaign just as an optical move to show he's considering the female perspective, but then in reality, he totally dismisses her, ignores her, makes her feel like shit, etc., etc. But then he hits his head and he is transported to an alternate reality in which the women are in charge and men are treated like second-class citizens. Um, basically a reversal of our cultural gender roles is all the same characters. But in this company, this new fictional hitting his headland, the woman that he promoted is the one in charge of the campaign, and he is in her spot, and he has been hired as male perspective, again, just for optics, but he's totally dismissed and treated the way that she was treated. And her name is Alex, by the way. I don't think I mentioned that. So anyway, the details in this movie are so good. King's Cross becomes Queen's Cross, Steve Madden becomes Eve Madden, Victoria's Secret becomes Victor's Secret, etc. etc. Like it's it's very funny, and all those little references made me laugh a lot. I'm not gonna get too much into the details of the film, but how does this relate to public health? Equity is public health. Treating people like valuable human beings regardless of their sex or gender identity or any other characteristic is essential to ensure adequate health and just opportunities in general. And so we see oppression of groups like women, racial minorities, people who are gender diverse in other categories is quite alive and well in America. All the isms, they're still out there, no matter what you think, what you believe, lots of discrimination happening. But what's so crazy is that we as a society, we don't even bat an eye at blatantly misogynist behavior. Like, yeah, we talk about it, and especially women, we recognize it, but it continues and generally nothing is done. But when the gender roles are reversed, the absurdity is on full display. Like it is so funny to see women sitting on the couch, like burping and farting and scratching themselves while the men are wearing aprons and rushing around the kitchen to make sure dinner is on the table, etc. etc. Like it is so good and so ridiculous. But just seeing the reversal and behavior in our typically observed gender roles really illustrates the treatment that women just endure every day. Not all women, right? Not all men. Not saying it applies to everyone, but culturally that's the pattern. That we see. I also want to say that as a white woman, I'm very aware that feminism has benefited me more than it has benefited women of color or trans women. So I'm not trying to sit here and say I'm a woman, I'm so oppressed, blah blah blah blah blah. But I do want to say that there are people out there, including women, who fight against feminism and who think it's stupid, and there are a few arguments against it that I don't agree with any of them. But these arguments include one, people who are religious or politically conservative see feminism as a threat to traditional gender roles. Similarly, conservative circles think that feminism is based on some woke ideology that rejects biological differences between the sexes. Like, of course, differences exist. Men and women have different biology, but gender is a construct, and a lot of our male and female typical behaviors and things that we see men and women doing are social constructs and not biology. Like, even though women are primary caregivers to children, men can also take care of children, right? Men can change snipers, men can schedule a doctor's appointments. These are not behaviors that only women can do. Another argument against feminism is that it is a threat to men and boys, and that by giving women more opportunities, men get less of them. Boohoo, Crimea River. And another argument that I want to close out on is that feminism has moved beyond equal opportunity and now seeks to provide unfair advantages to women over men. Anyway, can you tell me what those opportunities are? Because I have yet to see them.

Speaker 45:30

I would like to, I would like to subscribe to those opportunities. Five dollars.

Mattie 45:34

I would pay more than five dollars a month to know what those opportunities are.

Speaker 45:38

Absolutely. My response to those counter-arguments is um Olivia, can we get like the boo button? Boo.

Mattie 45:48

I will I'll find a sound and I can make booing great again. Wait, wait, wait, wait.

Speaker 2 45:54

Boom headshot!

Speaker 45:55

Oh that was boom headshot, actually. Um I was like, whoa was the noise. Also, what noise just emitted from my body then just then I want that squeak kept in.

Mattie 46:08

Okay. Um, anyway, so I could do a whole episode about feminism, so I don't want to dive too deep into it here, and I don't want to unpack all this. But I want to remind you all, or as our listeners already know, I don't even need to say this, but equity is the foundation of public health. Feminism is simply a movement to elevate women to be equal in society and have the same opportunities and supports as men, and that's it. It's not to say that we're better. This is just to give us equal access and have our needs met. That is all that feminism is about. And that that is it for public health and pop culture. I feel like this is a good PR thing for Sasha Barricone because for him, he's like the original meme, like troll vibe of the internet. I feel like like he was the original jackass, but it was scripted. It's just an interesting PR flip for him, right? Because it's completely the opposite. To see him in that role, I think that's why I haven't watched it, because I just don't like him. I just thought he was a waste of my time. But now I'm 100% gonna watch him get totally served by women.

Speaker 47:06

He's also been on like a couple more like serious roles lately. And I'm like, wow, I love this exploration of your career field and things I didn't think you could do, Sasha.

Mattie 47:15

Yeah, I have to say he's come a long way since Borat, which I saw in theaters when I was in high school. I feel so old saying that. Exactly. It was a high school thing.

Speaker 47:25

I actually I have something embarrassing to say. I've never seen Borat because when it came out, I was too young and sheltered to see it. And then I just then it became too late to have the first thing it's probably That's fair, that's fair. You haven't seen Borat. No, I haven't seen it. 2006, I was I think it was in like the fifth grade, so yeah, I definitely did not see it when it came out. Are we all gonna watch the movie and then watch Borette tonight?

Mattie 47:49

I think we're gonna have to. Time for recalls, your favorite time of the week. Public health, what's on your show? All right, um, this is gonna be a shit episode to edit. So for this week, guys, Nara Organics has a whole milk powdered infant formula that has a risk of botulism contaminants. Azuma Foods, seasoned octopus with wasabi may contain undeclared fish.

Speaker 48:16

Is an octopus not a fish? But it's a cephalopod, but I don't know if it's like considered.

Mattie 48:22

Do people eat octopus octopi without eating fish? That's a good question. I'm sure there are some people who do.

Speaker 48:28

Oh, an octopus is not a fish. Logically, it is an invertebrate um classifying as a marine mollusk, and it it's in the class cephalopoda.

Mattie 48:37

So well, I should know that based on how smart they are. They don't deserve to be in the same class of fish. Fish are dumb. Well, okay, so your octopus with wasabi may have undeclared fish, so just be careful with that one.

Speaker 48:48

Wait, can I comment on the fish being smart? I once taught a goldfish a trick. So sometimes they can be spout.

Mattie 48:55

You know, there's always an outlier on the bell curve.

Speaker 48:59

It lived for a year.

Mattie 49:01

Oh, what was his name?

Speaker 49:03

I can't remember. I think he called a golding. I can't remember his name. I was like in the third grade, and it was at vacation bible school at their little um like fair thing they did, and I won 13 goldfish, and my parents were pissed. And then I came home with 13 and one, survived, and made it to the year mark.

Mattie 49:23

And I thought this survived out of 13 and then learned a trick, and you're like, can't remember his name. Wasn't rememberable.

Speaker 49:30

I think it was Goldie by the end of it because I think I ran out of names.

Mattie 49:33

Oh my god. All right, well, R.I.P. Goldie. Good job doing your trick. Um, next is Beekeeper's Natural Saline Nasal Spray has a above acceptable microbiological limits for yeast, which may contain a uh bacteria. Aspergilis.

Speaker 49:50

Aspergillus. Aspergillus.

Mattie 49:52

Even then I got it wrong. All right. Vita, TN vitamins, and Doctor's Pride, ultra potent and Doctor's Pride's complete green superfood capsules. I'm just gonna say something. If your wellness product has six sentences in their title, throw it out because I don't want to have to read it anymore. And it has possible cell manila contamination in it, which I'm not surprised based on the screws of recalls. Can we also take a moment to admire that you call vitamins vitamins?

Speaker 50:21

I will say how it is split up in the thing. It is, it looks like TN vitamins. Guys, I literally broke my brain. I was like, TN vitamins. It was like that time it kept saying organized instead of organic because there was an E instead of an S in the thing. The worst part is I got through that not thinking I got that wrong.

Mattie 50:45

So TN vitamins. That makes way more sense. Um, god damn it. Uh the next one is Clover Hill Dairy that I can say, and it's soft ricotta and requessin cheese. And it's potentially contaminated with Listeria. Chlora Prep Clear Applicators has potential fungal contamination on 6'8 2026. I also have not been saying the dates. So, like, I guess Russian roulette in your cabinet right now. Um, another thing is fun fact, I used to think Russian roulette was all roulette games. So my dad would like go gamble. I'd be like, Did you play Russian roulette? And it's not, it's not all games. One contains a gun and the other doesn't.

Speaker 51:29

When can you correct it? Like, how long was this allowed to go on for?

Mattie 51:34

I think a lot of things in my life I wasn't corrected about Maddie based on how I like sound things out. Like I was allowed to live this way for far too long. Um freeze-dried chicken recipe, cat and dog food from Steve's Real Food. It's the downside of real food, y'all. 6'8, 2026. Um, it has low levels of thiamine or vitamin B1. No brand, which is cut into multiple sentences, so thank God I could say it out loud. Requessin, one-pound clamshell packages may have listeria. So good luck figuring it out. It is another brand. Up and up, fragrance-free baby wipes. There's two of these. These wipes are sold by Target. They come in 20, 72, 216, 800, and 1200 counts. They're baby wipes, they're in cucumber and fragrance-free. They may be contaminated with some really fun sounding bacteria that can grow due to moisture over time. So if you think about wipes, they have to be wet for you to use them. And so they probably sat for too long or weren't stored correctly. Pearl Milling Company, I included this because the entire FDA recall is in Spanish. And which made me think about this a little bit is that maybe people are just submitting their own recalls and they just post them as they're submitted. Because why would you list a full Spanish recall if everything else is in English? So um I I can take this one. Please do. Yes, Pearl Milling Company, pancake and waffle mix due to the presence of undeclared milk and soy. Oh, yeah, that's what it says. I thought you were gonna say it in Spanish. I mean, I can also say it in Spanish, but I don't know what percentage of our listeners speak Spanish, so we're gonna go with English. You speak Spanish? I do. That's so fucking cool. Okay. Dried herring fish packaged in clear plastic, seven-ounce bag with blue trim. Very specific. Thank you, FDA. No brand. Uh, product was not adequately eviscerated. That's a very strong way to describe this. And May Harbor botulism. So this is honestly the recalls are my favorite part. Uh, gas X, extra strength. Potential chemical contamination. I definitely own some gas X. Not my gas X. Not your gas X. It looks like they're pretty new soft gels from April to May and May to May. Um, extra strength. So the people that really need it are gonna suffer. Diluted propylene glycol-based coolant may result in adverse effects such as nausea, vomiting, abdomen pain, and diarrhea. Basically, what gas X is for. So your gas X might make you gassy.

Speaker 54:07

Why is there coolant in my gas X?

Mattie 54:10

Yeah, still worth it. I'd still take it. This is not medical advice. TN vitamins are back. TN vitamins and Doctor's Pride has possible salmonella contamination in their superfood capsules. And then finally, Motor City Pizza, which makes me really sad because I buy their pizza from Costco. Their cheese bread single and two packs has possible salmonella contamination. Yeah, that's what's happening in June from the first to the 13th. Wow. Watch out for those vitamins.

Speaker 54:39

The vitamins! The vitamins. And if you are gassy, don't be. And if you like octopi, no, they are not fish. It's a mollusk. No, there was like a severe lack of botulism. It was just one. Oh two.

Mattie 54:56

I just need to understand a little bit more about why the Spanish one is still Spanish. Yeah, that is interesting. It makes me worried that every other report is self-reported and that the FDA just doesn't have anyone working there. All right. Well, this was public health group chat. Make sure to take your vitamins. Do we have any other good outros? If your husband comes home from Samoa with conjunctivitis, don't have sex with him. Just remember Zika is sexually transmitted. I think we're gonna have to keep the story in at this point.

Speaker 55:28

Um this has been public health group chat. Uh just remember, sexually transmitted diseases aren't just STDs. They're also other infectious diseases. That's not a good one. I can't think of anything freaking today.

Mattie 55:41

Wear a condom. And take your vitamins. Wear a goddamn condom. Yeah, wear a condom. Wait, is there a condom sound? No, it is no. Oh, oops!

Speaker 2 55:58

I dropped my monster condom that I used for my magnum dumb.

Mattie 56:07

All views are our own on this podcast. Give us a five-star rating if you love how fucking unserious we are. And uh consider subscribing for more ridiculous aspects of our personality!