One of the scientific advisors on disaster movie Contagion has urged people to pay close attention to the last five minutes of the movie, explaining that they offer a crucial lesson about the kind of actions which lead to pandemics like the current coronavirus outbreak. You can watch the clip below:
Dr Tracey McNamara - a veterinary pathologist who helped out with the early stages of the film's production - said the final scene holds a warning about man's impact on the environment and how our actions can cause viruses to jump species.
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In an interview with Metro, she said: "I wish as people watch this film that they watch the last five minutes carefully. That whole scenario, that absolutely happens."
For those of you who haven't seen the movie, its ending shows trees that house bats being pulled down.
The bats then eat the fruit from the trees but, having nowhere to go, nest in the rafters of the pig pens. Their diseased droppings land on the floor, where they are eaten by the pigs.
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The infected pig is then sent to a restaurant where it is prepared by a chef who, having handled the now-infected pig, greets Gwyneth Paltrow's character Beth without first having washed his hands.
She is the first person to catch the virus, which then spreads across the world.
The film has striking similarities to the way some scientists believe the coronavirus outbreak began.
A study published in The Lancet back in January looked at the genome sequences of the coronavirus and concluded the virus was likely to have originated in bats - with another animal in the middle of the chain, passing the disease from bat to human.
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Dr McNamara told Metro that it's vital we learn from the coronavirus pandemic and use it to change how we view our relationship with animals.
She said: "We're all so focused on the immediacy of the crisis. When everything calms down, what really needs to happen is a very serious discussion about how we will in the future deal with emerging pandemic threats that largely 'emerge' because of man-made activities.
"Leave the bats alone, let them stay in the trees. A lot of this is related to human activity, cutting down habitats, no buffers between humans coming into contact with wildlife.
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"We need to do everything we can do our end to take serious steps to try and prevent future outbreaks like this. If we would just leave things along, then maybe these things would not happen."
It's okay to not panic. LADbible and UNILAD's aim with our series, Cutting Through, is to provide our community with facts and stories from the people who are either qualified to comment or have experienced first-hand the situation we're facing. For more information from the World Health Organisation on coronavirus, click here.
Topics: Interesting, Health