MovieChat Forums > Outbreak (1995) Discussion > for any one that liked this movie and wo...

for any one that liked this movie and would like more


I highly suggest picking up the two books "The Hot Zone" by Richard Preston, and "The Coming Plague" by Laurie Garrett. The first book focuses solely on hemorrhagic fevers like the 3 strains of Ebola, and Marburg Disease; which are very similar to the virus in this movie. While the second talks more broadly about a whole range of diseases, but its section on hemorrhagic fevers is extraordinary, but the book in general gives all sorts of interesting information you would normally never hear.

For example, in one section of "The Coming Plague", they are talking about a blood sample that had been taken and shipped to the U.S. to be researched. The people who sent the blood sample didn't know what it contained, and they hadn't described what it was yet in the book, but if you knew viruses you would know it was a strain of Ebola. Any way, these guys are studying it, and one of them accidentally drops a vial of the Ebola infected blood. It falls to the floor, crashes, and goes all over the place getting on this guys shoe. They describe the incident as nothing more than a "Woopsie!", and cleaning it up with a disinfectant.

Fortunately, no one became infected, but could you imagine? Something so deadly carelessly being handled like that.

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Thanks for the tips!

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Wasn't this movie based on the book "The Hot Zone"? Or am I confusing it with another movie?

~ the hardest thing in this world... is to live in it ~

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You're confusing it, but it did follow the path of The Hot Zone, just taking it a little farther, in an example of what 'could' happen. Of course, the movie had a LOT of missteps as far as bio-hazard handling protocol, but not so over the top on political cover up. Read the books. They will scare you even more!!

An independent mind is difficult to enslave.

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Sounds like the very kind of thing I love to read... I'll have to see if my local library has them... if not, I'll order them online... thanks!

~ the hardest thing in this world... is to live in it ~

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