MEV-1 Virus

MEV-1 is the highly contagious and lethal meningoencephalitic virus that appears in the 2011 film Contagion.

It is a paramyxovirus that infects both the lungs and the brain, causing hacking coughs and fever, a severe headache, followed by a seizure, brain hemorrhage and ultimately, death. With an unusual incubation period, MEV-1 kills an infected person in approximately four days after infection and within hours of the onset of symptoms. The virus is transmitted by fomite, meaning it is transferred primarily by touching objects infected by the virus' carriers. A chimeric virus, MEV-1 is a combination of a virus whose natural host is the domestic pig and a virus whose natural host is a species of bat native to China.