In this episode of Paul Talks Science, Paul Adepoju expands on his Lancet Microbe article, “International response to hantavirus outbreak,” with infectious disease expert Dr Neil Vora.

The conversation goes beyond the MV Hondius cruise ship outbreak to ask what this episode reveals about spillover risk, cruise ships as outbreak spaces, and why preventing viruses from jumping from animals to humans must become a bigger part of global health security.

From quarantine and contact tracing to wildlife trade, climate change, surveillance and One Health, this episode looks at why rare outbreaks are no longer something the world can afford to treat as rare.