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Contagion Film Questions
Name:___________________________
Date:___________
Key Terms
CDC – Center for Disease Control – US government organization which monitors infectious diseases and tries to limit
their spread across the United States.
WHO – World Health Organization – A worldwide organization of countries which monitors infectious diseases and tries to
limit their spread across the globe.
Encephalitis - irritation and swelling (inflammation) of the brain, most often due to infections.
Incubation period – The time period between the initial viral infection and when the patient begins to show symptoms.
Quarantine – To isolate infected individuals to prevent the spread of a disease.
Bio Safety Level - A biosafety level is the level of the biocontainment precautions required to isolate dangerous biological agents in
an enclosed facility. The levels of containment range from the lowest biosafety level 1 to the highest at level 4.
Fomite - A fomes or fomite is any object or substance capable of carrying infectious organisms, such as germs or parasites.
R – Naught (R0) - R0 is the number of new cases that a single infected person will cause, on average.
Crossover Event – when a pathogen (anything that causes disease) crosses over from one species to another (usually animal to
human).
Epidemic - a widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.
Pandemic – an infectious disease prevalent over a whole country or the world.
Vaccine – willful exposure to a weakened or dead pathogen to create immunity, also called inoculation.
Attenuated - An attenuated vaccine is a vaccine created by reducing the virulence of a pathogen, but still keeping it viable (or
"live").
Antigen – An antibody “fits” into an antigen. Antigens can illicit an immune response (generating antibodies to fit).
Antibody - A large Y-shape protein produced by plasma cells that is used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign
objects such as bacteria and viruses.
Mutation – a random change in a DNA sequence (rapidly mutating viruses can be difficult to neutralize because
antibodies can quickly become ineffective)
Immunity – possessing the antibodies for a disease rendering it harmless to you.
Biological Weapons – Using infectious disease(s) to infect your enemy.
1. Who is patient zero?
2. Why did her husband not get infected?
3. What was the role of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) in the film?
4. What part does private industry play in fighting this epidemic?
5. What is the name of the worldwide organization that deals with the outbreak?
6. What role did social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) play in the outbreak?
7. What were the origins of this virus? (be specific)
8. What were the modes of transmission of this disease?
9. Would this virus be categorized as an emerging virus? Why?
10. Did you like this movie? In a paragraph (5 sentences), please address the movie’s;
a. realism (would it really happen like this or is it just more Hollywood sensationalism?).
b. believability; were the characters convincing? Did they really sell their parts?
c. affect on you; did the movie frighten you? did it make you germ paranoid? are you
going to wash your hands more?