Twitter is comparing deadly coronavirus outbreak with the film 'Contagion'

The 2011 film is now topping iTunes because of coronavirus' similarities with the fictional disease

Entertainment Desk January 31, 2020
facebook whatsup linkded
photo file
PHOTO: FILE
The 2011 film Contagion, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, opened to the sound of a woman coughing. The universal sound of sickness, her cough is heavy and full of mucous. Paltrow's character, Beth Emhoff, is patient zero in a pandemic that kills at least 26 million people worldwide in less than a month.

The fictional pandemic in Contagion, called MEV-1 in the film, is a hybrid of influenza and the deadly Nipah virus that emerged in Malaysia in the late 1990s, reported Business Insider.

Google searches for Contagion skyrocketed last week because of the real and growing coronavirus outbreak. The number of Twitter users mentioning the film in relation to the current outbreak did as well, and on January 28, Contagion was on iTunes' top-10 list of rented films.







There are many stark differences between the spread of MEV-1 in the film and the current coronavirus outbreak. Importantly, the coronavirus isn't currently considered a pandemic, though the World Health Organization (WHO) did declare it a global public-health emergency on Thursday.

Since December 31, the coronavirus (whose scientific name is 2019-nCoV) has killed at least 200 people and infected more than 9,000 across 20 countries, including the US.

Iqra Aziz, Yasir Hussian visit Tharparkar as part of water accessibility projectΒ 

Still, there are a few notable parallels between the scenario in Contagion and current events. For one, the film's MEV-1 virus is a zoonotic disease, meaning it jumped from animals to people.



In the film, it spreads from a bat to a pig sold at an outdoor Chinese market, before hopping to Emhoff. According to experts, coronavirus is also zoonotic disease that likely started in bats and infected people via an intermediary animal sold at a wet market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.







Recently, Chinese influencerΒ Wang Mengyun issued an apology for a viral video of her eating a bat on a travel show. Although the video was filmed back in 2016, it recently resurfaced and sparked outrage in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak as bats have been identified as possible carriers.



In Pakistan, a student who returned to Karachi from Wuhan,Β Arsalan Amin, has been admitted to a private hospital in the port city as a precautionary measure.

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.
facebook whatsup linkded

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ

Join Us

Entertainment

article

NFL reportedly contacted Lil Wayne to replace Kendrick Lamar at Super Bowl amid Drake’s lawsuit
VIEW MORE

LATEST

the bear who won the world

The bear who won the world

inside young stunners india debut controversy

Inside Young Stunners' India debut controversy

saheefa demands internet in the bathroom

Saheefa demands internet in the bathroom

when books birth dramas

When books birth dramas

hina bayat gives it back to trolls

Hina Bayat gives it back to trolls

keoghan tapped to play ringo starr

Keoghan tapped to play Ringo Starr

OPINION

green cold war threatens survival against climate change

Green cold war threatens survival against climate change

luxury of time

Luxury of time

pervasive menace of beggary

Pervasive menace of beggary

birds in far pavilions

Birds in Far Pavilions

contentions surrounding the nobel for economics

Contentions surrounding the Nobel for Economics

terrain water geography and culture

Terrain, water, geography and culture

FOLLOW US

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, redistributed or derived from. Unless otherwise stated, all content is copyrighted Β© 2024 The Express Tribune.