The Andromeda Strain

 I mentioned that Biosafety level 4 was about the most stringent precautions we could take and still allow work on a pathogenic microbe.

The movie 'The Andromeda Strain' closely based on Michael Crichton's book of the same name poses an intriguing question - what precautions would we need to take if we were faced with an almost unimaginable pathogenic threat - a disease from space that appears lethal and highly contagious?

Although this movie naturally appears a little dated now (movie from 1971, book from 1969) the questions asked actually hold up pretty well today. During the era of space exploration in the 1960's and 1970's did the US ever have an equivalent of 'Project Wildfire'?

I actually think this is one of the better disease movies out there.

"Ebola Syndrome"

The movie "Ebola Syndrome" was released in 1996, which chronicles the life of a murderer, Sam, who contracted the Ebola virus from a woman he raped in South Africa. He then spreads this virus to the costumers in his restaurant by serving them parts of his victims' bodies, causing an outbreak. The authorities realize that he Sam responsible for spreading the Ebola virus, so he flees to Hong Kong, where another outbreak occurs.

Although this movie is clearly a dramatization of the reality of the Ebola virus, it nonetheless reveals the fear and uncertainty caused by the infection. Watch the disturbing, yet mildly entertaining trailer here. It is in Japanese, but is still easy to follow!

Panic in the Streets

On the topic of disease movies one of the most interesting is the 1950 movie Panic in the Streets - a semidocumentary film noir directed by Elia Kazan. I've posted on this before but I'm posting again since I discovered that the entire movie is available at Google Videos and, unless I screwed up, is posted below.

The trailer for Panic in the Streets promotes the film as an action/suspense thriller about preventing the spread of a nationwide biological epidemic. Reading between the lines, however, Panic in the Streets can be seen as an allegory about stopping the threat of Communism in the United States at the beginning of the Cold War.

The original title of this movie? Outbreak...

Outbreak

In 1995, "Outbreak," a movie about the spread of the fictional Motaba virus, was released in the United States. Although the name "Motaba" was used, the virus in the movie was very similar the ebola virus, as it had an extremely high mortality rate and was very infectious. In addition, the virus was transported to the United States via infected monkeys, which as we discussed in class today may have been the transmission route of the ebola virus. However, "Outbreak" seems to be a typical Hollywood movie, as violence and drama are added to the plotline. Apparently, commanding officials in Africa decide to bomb the sites with the outbreak in an attempt to halt further infection. Also, a new airborne strain of the virus emerges which proves infectious to humans. As we know, however, this situation is not the same with the ebola virus, as the Reston strain only affects animals.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114069/

Panic in the Streets

There are a number of interesting disease movies (apart from zombie movies). I bumped into a reference to 'Panic in the streets' the other day and think I'll have to watch it again. It must be 30 years since I saw this on late night tv. Apparently the original title was 'Outbreak'

From Amazon's editorial review:

An amazingly effective film noir action movie, shot on location in New Orleans in 1950, that has twists of plot and explosions of violence that can still make audiences gasp. Elia Kazan, of all people, directed this story of a public health worker (Richard Widmark) and a police detective (Paul Douglas) who have only a few hours in which to capture some fleeing felons who may be infected with bubonic plague. The bad guys are played, with enormous relish, by Jack Palance and Zero Mostel, the latter only a few years before Kazan ratted him out to the House Un-American Activities Committee. In retrospect, this modest crime picture looks like a crucial turning point in the formation of Kazan's distinctive style, a clear precursor to the blistering location work of landmark films like On the Waterfront, Baby Doll, and America, America. --David Chute

From DVD verdict:

The trailer for Panic in the Streets promotes the film as an action/suspense thriller about preventing the spread of a nationwide biological epidemic. Reading between the lines, however, Panic in the Streets can be seen as an allegory about stopping the threat of Communism in the United States at the beginning of the Cold War.

and finally, from epinions.com

The Moral of the Story Is?

Cooperating with authorities is shown as not only a civic duty, but as necessary to self-preservation, though there are officials who are more concerned about keeping the public ignorant than about keeping it safe, and even this imperative is muddied by the movie's siding with the heroes keeping a newspaperman from reporting what is going on.