EPIIC Film Series: Contagion

Contagion follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart.

The film will be introduced by Jennifer Steele, DVM, PhD.  She is a Research Assistant Professor, Division of Infectious Diseases, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.  Her research articles have been published in the Journal of Infectious Disease, among others.  Dr. Steele is working with the Tufts team on the RESPOND project through USAID.  This initiative is a multidisciplinary project to create better synergies among veterinarians, doctors and public health officials in responding to outbreaks of emergent zoonotic diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans with a focus on preventing these diseases from reaching humans by identifying and countering outbreaks while they are still within wildlife and livestock.