Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak

  • 08 Feb - 14 Feb, 2020
  • Mag The Weekly
  • TV TIME

When the Netflix docuseries Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak began streaming recently, it landed just in time for the peak flu season and it is produced by Zero Point Zero Productions. It also coincidentally aired as a deadly new corona virus detected in the Chinese city of Wuhan put health authorities worldwide on alert. Pandemic begins with a search in a suspected mass grave site in Butler County in the US state of Pennsylvania that dates from 1918. Soldiers spread the Spanish flu virus when they returned home from World War I and the pandemic wiped out up to 100 million people worldwide, far more than the eight million killed in the war. The docuseries evokes vivid memories of lethal virus outbreaks in recent history that have killed hundreds of people. They include two other outbreaks that originated in China: the H5N1 bird flu and severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which was discovered in 2003. The six episodes in the first season of Pandemic tell the stories of doctors and pandemic control experts who fight and contain viral outbreaks. While medical professionals see viruses as a common enemy, they are also blamed for the spread of disease. The documentary features Dr Michel Yao, Ebola incident manager at the World Health Organisation, who works to build trust with and educate local citizens about Ebola prevention. The production team also travelled to Vietnam, India, Guatemala, Lebanon and Egypt to talk to doctors and scientists who are working to battle unknown, but expected, future pandemics.

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