Wilfredo R.

Goro

Critique paper

Virology

THE OUTBREAK

The Outbreak is a 1995 American Medical Desaster film directed by a Wolfgang Petersen and
starring Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, and Morgan Freeman. The Film centers on the outbreak of a
virulent disease that spread through small town California town, resulting in mass panic hysteria. Cedar
Creek, a town in California, USA was hit by a viral epidemic causing the sickness and death of many
people living there. It began in Cedar Creek after a smuggled host animal arrived in the U.S. A white
capuchin monkeys. The person who brought the animal in the town got infected and died after having
contact with the animal’s body fluid. The viral causative agent was known to be the Motaba, a fictional
virus which causes a deadly fever. It was first found in 1967 in an African Jungle and resurfaced after
twenty-eight years in Zaire. Motaba, is a viral hemorrhagic fever virus that affects many organ systems of
the body, damages the overall cardiovascular system, and reduces the body’s ability to function
normally. Viral hemorrhagic fever viruses naturally exist in animals or insects which are referred to as
host populations. It is zoonotic; thus, it can be spread from animal host to humans and it can further
infect human population through person-to-person contact. The outbreak began when a host animal
was brought by Jimbo who is an employee at the Bio-Test animal holding facility. The host animal was
taken to Cedar Creek, California to be sold in black market. Unfortunately, Jimbo got infected with the
virus through facial contact with the monkey’s saliva while travelling to their destination. In Cedar Creek,
the pet store owner to whom Jimbo was supposed to sell the monkey also got infected after being
scratched by the host animal. He was taken to the hospital and blood samples were taken to run some
labs.However, the laboratory technician accidentally broke a vial containing the blood sample of the pet
owner and got infected.