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

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.

Corona virus in a movie made in 2011#contagion #CoronaOutbreak #WuhanCoronovirus pic.twitter.com/gxsjMPAKwB

— asteriasukma (@asteriasukma1) January 25, 2020

Am i the only one that thought of this when the #coronavirus story broke out? #Contagion pic.twitter.com/g6df0SMGA8

— Rene (@JoedaHdz) January 23, 2020

I just finished watching it again. (#Contagion was one of my fave films of 2011)

This movie gets many things right. From the government response to the fake news conspiracy nutters spreading misinformation. Contagion is a must see movie. #Coronavirus pic.twitter.com/2e1Ilgfmae

— 𝕊𝕔𝕠𝕣𝕤𝕖𝕤𝕖 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕓𝕖𝕕 (@AtheismJesus) January 30, 2020

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.

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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.

Re-watched the movie #Contagion last night. Somehow it felt appropriate on a potential worst case scenario of #Wohan virus. Is the world ready?

— Drew B (@TrendsDrew) January 24, 2020

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.

The perfect time to watch #contagion, a 2011 thriller movie, that depicts a viral pandemic originated from China. https://t.co/ynYqeLplmj

— Abdirahman M. Ibrahim, MBChB, MPH(IS) (c) (@AbWaseemDoc) January 31, 2020

Years ago, the film #Contagion freaked me out!! It was such a realistic depiction of a viral outbreak.

With the scary #coronarvirus travelling everywhere, life is imitating art. 😳☺️

Praying for all the people in Wuhan & the world. 🙏🏼🙌🏼#FREAKEDOUT 😷 pic.twitter.com/VziNokwzMQ

— Ming-Na Wen (@MingNa) January 26, 2020

Me:😳That’s insane! (As I’m scratching my nose)😅😅😅#Contagion because with #CoronavirusOutbreak you have to rewatch it😆🤗 pic.twitter.com/urB9NM5jss

— owlie (@gossipgrl8) January 25, 2020

Recently, Chinese influencer 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.

🤦‍♂️#WangMengyun apologizes to the public over a video of her from 2016 The footage shows her tearing a bat 🦇 apart before putting it into her mouth.
She praised the 'delicious' and 'nutritious' dish who ate a bat apologises amid #coronavirus outbreak
https://t.co/o5Xxe2IiVg

— VIDEO2FONE (@VIDEO2FONE) January 28, 2020

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

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