For this assignment, I choose to watch the movie Outbreak, which is a movie about a hemorrhagic virus called “Mutoba”. In the movie, the host of the virus was a monkey. The descriptive epidemiology of the disease is as follows the virus was first discovered in 1967 in a small village in Zaire that was only a spread by contact. The virus was brought to the camp by a couple of men that sent out to build roads in the jungle then they came back to the village and drank from the well, from there all the people from the village drank form the well and by the time they found the source of the disease it was too late.
Fast forwarded to present day of the movie, the virus that infested Cedar Creek was first spread by contact because of a monkey (which had both strains of the virus) that was smuggled from Africa to a pet store to be sold. The monkey first spit on Jim Bow and then scratched the pet store owner. Later on it was discovered that not only was it passed through contact but also airborne when a patient that had been in an auto accident who had not come into contact with any of the patients that had the virus was showing signs and symptoms. The first strain was only able to be caught by coming into contact with an individual that was infected.
With the second strain of the virus, it was airborne which made it that much more dangerous. There was a protein coat around the virus that changed allowing it to survive in the air. A protein coat protected the virus inside from dying as soon as it hits the air. It is shown that the protein coat changed in the movie by a picture comparing the two viruses from 1967 to the present virus in Cedar Creek. The present day virus has a sharp box like structure surrounding it which helps it survive in the air longer. The Motaba virus attacks by infecting a single cell then it replicates itself, eventually killing off all of an individual’s cells.
The symptoms of the virus are similar to the flu, to include fever, chills, hot flashes, muscle pain, vomiting as well as bleeding from different sites on the body. The epidemic affected the public by sending them into a frenzy, with individuals trying to escape the contained area. No one in and no one out, except health care and military personal. The public was worried because they really didn’t know what was going on except that there was a virus and it was killing off individuals of their small community. I believe that it was both pathogenic or virulent. There is a series of events must happen in order for any infection to take place.
This is known as the chain of transmission or the six links in the chain of infection. For an infection to happen, each link must take place. – The first link is the organism or causative agent. Which type of organism is it, bacteria, virus, parasite, or fungi? The type of organism can tell you a lot. – The second link is the Reservoir, where does the organism or agent exist in between outbreaks? How does it reproduce to where it can be transmitted? Infectious agents can live in several areas (environmental/ living organism) to include water, soil, insects, animals and also humans.
However, humans can be the only reservoir for most human pathogens. – The third link is the portal of exit, which means how the agent leaves its reservoir. This can happen by excretions/secretions, non-intact contact, respiratory and gastrointestinal tract as well as mucus membranes. – Fourth you have transmission, how is the agent transmitted from the reservoir to a host. This can be achieved through direct (contact or droplet) or indirect (airborne or vehicle borne). This happens through inhalation, a break in the skin or mucus membrane, an insect bite, and also can be contaminated food.
The portals of entry would be through the nose, skin, or mouth. – Fifth is the portal of entry, how does the agent enter into the new host? This can take place either through respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, parental, skin, mucous membranes as well as blood. – Sixth and final link is the susceptible host. There are several factors that can influence the severity of the infection. The new host immune system, age (very young or old), medical conditions, prior treatments or invasive devices, and the overall general health and nutrition of the new host.
By breaking the chain or eliminating one or more of the six links then transmission cannot occur. This can be done through effective infection prevention and control measures. In the movie Outbreak all ten steps on how to investigate an epidemic were taking. First step, the team traveled to where the epidemic had been suspected and reported, which was first Africa and the Cedar Creek. Second and third, they verified that there was actually an epidemic happening by performing test on individuals that were showing symptoms.
Fourth, the establish the number of cases at each location where the virus had been active. By using steps five and six they were able to formulate a hypothesis from the information that was gathered through their investigation of information obtained. Steps seven, eight and nine were carried evaluating and testing the hypothesis and beginning control and prevention measures by containing the virus to the small town (no one in, no one out except for military and medical personal), establishing a curfew as well as keeping all the sick individuals contained to tents and other areas.
The final step was done by given the results to the correct officials in this case the president and staff, the military officials and members from the CDC as well. I can’t recall if and how the actual public beyond the list above was notified. It was like they were trying to keep it a secret and just blow up the town, like they did back in Africa 30 years earlier.
