Contagion Analysis
Maria Jorgensen
MPH 500
The movie Contagion deals with a new pandemic influenza virus (MEV-1) which the
public has never been exposed to before and therefore no vaccine or treatment has been
developed to combat it. The movie makers did a great job at emphasizing a few key things when
it comes to transmission and genetics. Contagion takes a scientific view on a drama and uses
response strategies, research and vaccination to wipe out a pandemic.
The movie actually takes the viewers through some epidemiology concepts of
transmission like fomites and R₀ which is the reproductive number of the disease which is the
rate at which one person is likely to infect others with the disease. As the R₀ of the new virus
continually increases the World Health Organization sends out members of its team to track the
origin of the disease. The disease transmission method was through fomites which the scenes
lingered on objects those infected touched to have the audience follow the transmission of the
disease across international borders. Contagion also portrayed how the CDC would respond to
such an event by closing off airports and transportation systems to try to contain the spread of the
virus by quarantining those who had been infected already and educating those who had not
about how the disease is spread and symptoms. The movie seeks the answer to the contagion in a
vaccine which becomes the biggest flaw in the movie because it was developed in 144 days of
the initial infection. This timeline is too fast for legitimate lab testing, approval and acceptance
by the FDA before it can be used on humans. However, the movie did display the frustration
with the lengthy process quite accurately.
The Center for Disease Control works to prevent and treat pandemics like the one
portrayed in the film every day. In order to be effective the CDC must respond promptly and
effectively to support the public in emergencies. It is also important for the CDC to work with
state and local agencies to distribute aid to those affected. The CDC’s Emergency Operations
Center (EOC) “ primary goals would be to determine the cause of the illness, the source of the
infection/virus/toxin, learn how it is transmitted and how readily it is spread, how to break the
cycle of transmission and prevent further cases and how patients can best be treated. Not only
would scientists be working to identify the cause and cure of the outbreak, but CDC acting with
other federal and international agencies would send medical teams and first responders to help
those in affected areas” (Center for Disease Control Foundation, 2014).
The Emergency Operations Center is the unit that would respond after the disease has
spread and been identified as a widespread health problem by working with the public health
officials in every state. The EOC brings together scientists from all over the nation to handle the
infection as quickly and efficiently as possible. “In addition, the EOC has the ability to rapidly
transport life-supporting medications, samples and specimens, and personnel anywhere in the
world” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). The EOC has responded to over 50
public health emergencies which include hurricanes, flu pandemics, and cholera outbreaks since
2001 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014).
Despite it being a movie, Contagion takes on many realistic concepts and applied it to its
drama. The movie accurately represents many epidemiology and genetic terms and also focuses
heavily on the vaccine being the answer to developing herd immunity for the public. The point at
which the movie strays from realism is the timing on the vaccination. The vaccine would take
much longer to develop and distribute in real life. Aside from the vaccine, the movie displays
person to person contact and the use of fomites for transmission of the virus and shows the
movement of the disease on a worldwide scale.
References
Center for Disease Control Foundation. (2014). Retrieved March 14, 2014, from How CDC saves lives by
controlling REAL global disease outbreaks: http://www.cdcfoundation.org/content/how-cdcsaves-lives-controlling-real-global-disease-outbreaks
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014, January 10). CDC Emergency Operations Center
(EOC). Retrieved March 14, 2014, from Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response:
http://www.cdc.gov/phpr/eoc.htm#what