So while the film itself is strictly a work of fiction, let’s hope that the worst-case scenario that it depicts never makes the jump from the Imax to the BBC. There are plenty of other things to be worried about, of course, as we teeter precariously on the edge of falling into another recession and as the Department of Homeland Security investigates an alleged terror plot in Washington or New York, timed to the 9/11 anniversary. But a virus knows nothing of these other concerns. And in a world with nearly 7 billion people, many of them traveling and shipping goods from one corner of the globe to the other, it might be wise to heed “Contagion’s” warning.
     In the end, there’s nothing more powerful than the spread of information. Simply look to the infectious tendencies of social media networks. The message that “Contagion” intends to impart seems to be that nothing is to be taken for granted, not when Armageddon is a mere chest cough away. So for God’s sake, wash your hands.