Contagion vs. Reality

Comparing MEV-1 to Coronavirus

Behjet Ansari

With the consistent rise in the spread of the Covid-19 virus, people can’t help but point out the similarities of the current situation with the one shown in the movie Contagion (2011). The plot of the movie revolves around a rapidly spreading infectious disease which the scientific community is trying to cure by developing a vaccine. The eerie similarities between the MEV-1 virus and coronavirus are something worthy of notice. The origin of the virus, the mediums through which it can spread, prevention methods, the symptoms an affected person experiences, and the scale of the spread of the virus are all strikingly similar characteristics for both viruses. 

Origin:

The virus shown in the movie had an unidentified origin. We see scientists trying to figure out the chain of the spread in order to track down the origin of the virus. Knowing exactly where the virus originated from helps greatly with developing a cure for it. By the end of the movie, we find out that the virus originated from a pig eating an infected piece of banana dropped by a bat in Hong Kong. The pig was then cooked and eaten at a restaurant, where the virus began to spread. 

Though the origin of the coronavirus is still not perfectly clear, scientists claim that bats are a highly probable source of origination in Wuhan, China. An entry in a Virology Journal of 2015 states: 

“Different species of rhinolophid bats in China carry genetically diverse SARS-like coronaviruses, some of which are direct ancestors of SARS-CoV and hence have the potential to cause the direct interspecies transmission to humans.” (Hu et al., 2015)

Mediums of spread: 

The movie had several moments portraying the spread of the virus. The main source of the spread of that virus was by touching contaminated surfaces (fomites), such as a doorknob or an elevator button. When an infected person touches a surface, the virus latches onto it and as soon as another person makes contact with it, the virus infects them if they touch their eyes, nose, or mouth. The movie repeatedly shows the virus spreading through surfaces like a glass of water, credit cards, bus poles, a portfolio, and simply a handshake with the infected person. It can also be spread from droplets in the infected person’s sneeze or cough. These tiny drops are airborne until they land on someone’s mouth or nose and infect them as well.

We see the exact same behavior with the coronavirus. It can also spread through direct, indirect or close contact with the infected person. This includes transmission through touch, and through respiratory droplets. According to the World Health Organization, transmission through respiratory droplets is possible when a person is in close contact i.e. within 1 meter of an infected person who coughs, sneezes, talks, or sings. (Brief, 2020)

Prevention techniques: 

The prevention methods for both viruses are the same. The infected people should be quarantined for a certain period of time (around 15 days) and are to frequently sanitize themselves and disinfect the area around them in order to stop further spread. The uninfected people are to wear masks and sanitize frequently and maintain a social distance of about 6 feet from every potential virus carrier.  

Receptor Binding: 

Receptor binding is when the proteins on the surface of the virus attack the receptors on a cell, like the ACE-2 receptors on the lung cells, and break into the cell and bind themselves to it to replicate. 

In contagion, we see the scientists deduce that the MEV-1 virus infects the brain and lung cells as they have the appropriate receptors for the virus to attach to, using a kind of lock and key mechanism. This video explains how receptor binding takes place, the visuals help to understand the concept better.   

For coronavirus, according to various researches, the receptor is the same i.e. ACE-2 receptor, which Sars-CoV-2 binds to. (Shang, 2020)

Symptoms:

The symptoms shown in Contagion for MEV-1 virus are dizziness, severe headache, high fever, cough, difficulty swallowing, labored breathing, and feeling exhausted. The movie showed the symptoms getting worse and worse with the passage of time. It initially starts with a high fever and cough and escalates to shortness of breath and lethargy, and in severe cases, death. 

According to WHO, the most common coronavirus symptoms are dry cough, high fever, and tiredness. Other symptoms like headache, loss of taste and smell, diarrhea, shortness of breath may also occur.

R0 / Reproductive rate / Transmission speed:

R0 is the number of people an infected person can transmit the virus to. Although the MEV-1 and coronavirus seem to share a similar R0 factor, in Contagion, after a period of one month since patient zero, we see the number of people who died from the MEV-1 reach up to 26 million (Woodward, 2020). Whereas for coronavirus, the one month mark brought about 800+ deaths. (Al-Jazeera, 2020) So it’s safe to say the MEV-1 virus had a much higher R0 as compared to coronavirus, which was probably done to exaggerate the severity of the situation in the movie. 

From the movie, we learn that R0 depends on a number of factors; the incubation period, how long a person is contagious, the number of people susceptible to the virus, etc. To know a detailed study of the R0 of coronavirus, watch this video from 1:30 onwards. 

Vaccine:

The development of a vaccine for a novel virus takes around 10 or more years. The movie showed the lady scientist finding a successful vaccine result on day 29, and conducts the first human test on herself. With the vaccine developed so quickly, the vaccine begins to curb the effect of the virus by day 135. This is one of the unrealistic things shown in the movie. The following chart shows the stages of vaccine production.

Seeing the uncanny similarities the fictional virus and the real virus share, the movie is a good source to learn about an infectious disease turned epidemic turned pandemic. The movie also nails the scientific aspects to a great extent and is so close to reality because it was well researched. Even apart from scientific knowledge, the movie portrayed things like mass hysteria and panic very accurately. 

Bibliography:

1. Hu, Ben, et al. “Bat origin of human coronaviruses” Virology Journal (2015) 12:221 DOI 10.1186/s12985-015-0422-1
2. Brief, Scientific. "Transmission of SARS-CoV-2: Implications for Infection Prevention Precautions". 9 July 2020, www.who.int/news-room/commentaries/detail/transmission-of-sars-cov-2-implications-for-infection-prevention-precautions.
3. Shang, J., Ye, G., Shi, K. et al. "Structural basis of receptor recognition by SARS-CoV-2". Nature 581, 221–224 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-2179-y
4. Woodward, Aylin. “'Contagion' Is One of the Most Popular Thrillers on ITunes Because of the Coronavirus Outbreak. Here's How the Film Compares to Reality.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 28 Feb. 2020, www.businessinsider.com/wuhan-coronavirus-stokes-fears-comparison-to-contagion-2020-1.
5. Al Jazeera. “Timeline: How the New Coronavirus Spread.” News | Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 20 Sept. 2020, www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/9/20/timeline-how-the-new-coronavirus-spread.