Outbreak by Wolfgang Peterson

826 Words2 Pages

A 1995 medical thriller film with humor and action, Outbreak, directed by Wolfgang Petersen, depicts an extreme case of Motaba virus similar to Ebola and Lassa discovered in Africa that accidentally arrives in the US via an African monkey host (a carrier) from Zaire. In July of 1967, Motaba River Valley, Zaire, a deadly airborne virus attacked a mercenary camp. Motaba virus causes severe bleeding, vomiting, diarrhea, bleeding in the nose and liquefies internal organs, killing within 3 days. Motaba virus has 100% high mortality rate and short incubation period. General Donald McClintock orders to drop a fire bomb onto Motaba river valley to prevent the spread of the infection. Colonel Sam Daniels from United States Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) is sent to investigate the virus of 1967. Sam warns his boss, General Ford to put out an alert. Sam tells General that he has never seen a virus like this before. General Ford tells him that it is not airborne, and the disease is far away in Africa.
In1994, there is another outbreak in Motaba River Valley. Unfortunately, an African monkey carrying that biological agent (pathogen must exist in order for the disease to occur) has brought into the United States. Unfortunately, the film shows two outbreaks that occurred in Boston and California. Outbreak portrays communicable (infectious) disease in the Cedar Creek. Communicable diseases are diseases that can be transmitted from one person to another through biological agents or their products. This biological agent had all three characteristics: infectivity (Ability to invade a host, survive & multiply) , pathogenicity (experience to produce clinical disease) and virulence (ability to cause serious illness...

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...bola, hanta viruses, lasssa deals with extreme biohazard and maximum security. The film showed how Daniel and his team had to cover themselves completely before entering the lab. Also, The scene where Daniel’s team member points out the scratch in suit and puts tape on Daniel’s hand showed how important it is to take precautions before and after when dealing with dangerous biohazards. I liked the character of Dr. Sam Daniels. I liked how Sam handled things carefully, took precautions and kept patience. Sam did what he think was right without following orders from superiors. He acts very realistic and I enjoy the movie very much. People usually don’t realize the consequences of their actions but this movie provides a message for the audience to consider the consequences of engaging in biological welfare and how it can affect the small community to the entire nation.

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