Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America

This TV movie is well worth watching especially if you are a disaster movie fan. The movie shows events from several points of view (a nurse, soldier, politician, a family and a pandemic expert) and builds on most of the characters quite well.

The acting is acceptable as is how the story flows, the ending is clearly left that way to allow for a follow-up TV series which obviously did not go ahead, so does have a feeling of wanting it to continue to conclusion but the movie does progress far enough to make this a stand alone story.

Certainly thought provoking and one of the more believable and credible potential disasters that could occur.

Many similarities in this film made in 2006 with what really happened in the world starting in the Fall-Winter of 2019. That will be a good reason to watch it. Joely Richardson and Stacy Keach are another reason to watch the movie. It's well made but has lengths that will be harder to digest.

This should gave been a training film for how a pandemic starts and how quickly society breaks down. Supplies of critical medical equipment, food, and other goods are quickly disrupted. Services like water and power could be disrupted also. The acting isn't Oscar worthy but it's good enough to get the message across.

As a professional business continuity planner, one who has worked extensively in the pandemic flu planning field, let me tell you now that this movie is not about an impossible doomsday scenario. The H5N1 virus is a very real threat and every government on every level has been preparing for it for years. What was pleasantly surprising about this movie (which, frankly, I did not expect very much from) was its accuracy - both in portraying facts and possible situations. They did a very good job of giving background on the pandemics of the past - 1918, 57, and 68. They also showed the infections coming in waves, just as they have in past pandemics and in all probability will when the next one hits.

Watching this movie was like watching the scenario that plays in the head of every pandemic flu planner when they write response protocols and imagine how quickly this could move and how devastating it could be. I know I've seen this movie many times in my own head already. The fact is that it is a matter of "when", not "if". Historically, we have had pandemics on average once every 30 years (which means we are currently overdue for one). It is enormously unlikely that after an established record like that, we would never have one again. It may not be the H5N1, but it's very likely a pandemic flu will happen again.

The acting was good, especially Joely Richardson's performance. The characters were well-developed and watching the communities after the first wave hit brought tears to my eyes a few times. The bravery and resiliency of the American people is truly amazing. Scott Cohen also did a very real, believable job as Governor Newsome.

This movie is definitely scary, but what's more scary is being unprepared. Health departments in most large cities are developing or running education campaigns for the public to create awareness for common-sense precautions, as they say in the movie, so hopefully people will start paying attention to the ads that tell them to cover their coughs, wash their hands, and stay home when they're sick.

On a final note, despite being quite impressed with the quality of this movie, the ending was a little disappointing. I was hoping for something a bit more resolutory, but I suppose it would have been difficult to end the movie on a very cheery note.

Definitely worth your time to see!

In Guangdong province, China, numerous birds infected with the H5N1 virus are being killed, but it may be too late to stop the disease from spreading. At least one man is sick at a nearby factory being visited by Ed Connelly of Richmond, Virginia, who is criticizing the factory's policies that are costing the company money (as far as we know, this has nothing to do with the disease).

As Connelly returns to the United States, we see extreme close-ups of the ways the disease is being spread by him to others on the plane. Soon after he gets back to Richmond, life appears normal but he is infecting others around him. He has no idea how sick he is.

Dr. Iris Varnack (Joely Richardson) is called to China, where 8 people have been infected by the bird flu virus. Correction--25 people. And the doctor there believes these cases, unlike others before, were passed from human to human rather than from bird to human. Dr. Varnack soon must inform the government that a pandemic worse than the 1918 Spanish Flu is a strong possibility. 300 million people could die worldwide (compared to 50 million in the earlier disaster).

Connelly becomes delusional and passes out in a store, and once doctors figure out what is wrong, all who visit him, including his wife Denise (Ann Cusack), must wear what look like space suits. By the first commercial break, the death toll is 125.

Soon, Connelly's neighborhood looks like a military installation, with a fence, complete with barbed wire, and armed military guards. Everyone there and in several other Richmond neighborhoods must stay in, depending on outsiders to get them the food and supplies they need. And as the epidemic worsens nationwide, the necessities of life become harder and harder to get.

The Secretary of Health and Human Services (Stacy Keach) communicates with the press. We are told the President addressed the nation, but we never see him.

Hospitals are soon overwhelmed with people who suspect they have the disease. We see treatment of the bird flu primarily through the eyes of one heroic nurse, Alma Ansen (Justina Machado), whose husband Curtis (David Ramsey) is in the military in Iraq--until his unit gets called back to the United States. Hospitals become terrible places, and before long, large buildings must be turned into auxiliary health care facilities.

The Connelly family becomes isolated from the world, though they do not have the disease. Or do they?

Periodically, we see a death count on the screen. People are dying so fast, though, that the count looks like the total sale display on a gas pump while you are filling up. The death toll goes from hundreds to thousands to many millions.

Virginia Governor Mike Newsome (Seth Cohen) is criticized for overdoing the quarantines and focusing on certain groups (the NAACP and ACLU, we are told, do not like his policies). He is told his efforts are doing no good to stop the disease's spread, but that doesn't really matter.

Life as we know it ceases to exist. The country is like a Third World nation, with people waiting in lines for everything they need, and lucky to get what they have. Black markets develop and crime increases (Remember the Rodney King verdict? Fortunately, we see this type of situation primarily in news footage). And people need other types of services from hospitals and the health care system--but this is just not readily available. Other problems develop that you might not have thought of. This situation is much worse than when polio was a problem (I'm not that old, by the way, but I've heard about it)--that's more like what I was led to expect if the bird flu became a problem.

The situation is not as grim in the second half. Life appears 'normal' in many scenes, though it is a 'new' normal. Denise Connelly's determination and compassion make the movie worth seeing, and a little more than just a 'disease of the week' movie. Scenes with Alma and Curtis also provide some welcome relief, though they both have their jobs to go back to.

I have to wonder why people stopped wearing space suits. There was no vaccine to begin with, and of course we had the obligatory controversies once one was found (there has to actually be a specific form of the disease to develop a vaccine for). My guess is they ran out of space suits and hoped they didn't need them. Of course, we are told some people just don't get sick.

The ending shows promise of a return to normal, but also impending gloom. IT MAY NOT BE OVER.

It is true that every version of the flu must have its own vaccine, and we don't know whether a vaccine for the current H5N1 virus will work if human-to-human transmission occurs. That part the movie probably got right. And people do have a tendency to overreact to threats such as this--where I live even the hint of snow means no bread or milk on grocery store shelves, so people's behavior here probably seemed realistic. But this movie just showed a quite exaggerated and terrifying look at what could happen. We may have been educated on some of the concerns a bird flu epidemic could bring--both consequences directly related to the flu, and the indirect results as well. Still, this looked overdone to me.

The autopsy on one victim was quite graphic. And we did see blood in a number of cases, because people with this disease cough up blood or bleed from the nose, at least in this version.

Stacy Keach gave the standout acting performance. Other actors were good at times, considering this was a TV-movie. Seth Cohen, Ann Cusack, Justina Machado and David Ramsey all had their moments.

Was it just a 'disease-of-the-week' movie? Probably, but it had its good moments.