The Virus Empire
(2) The Invisible Enemy - Docu-Drama
Viruses are among the biggest killers in the world. In the 20th century, more people died from viral infections than in all the wars worldwide. Through reconstructions, The Virus Empire uncovers how these invisible enemies spread — and the science behind them.
Smallpox is the only virus to have been officially eradicated — which is why only older generations are generally vaccinated against it. But stocks of the virus are still held by certain governments, and this episode goes on to show what might happen if those stockpiles were used as a weapon of mass destruction.
Terrorists manage to infect the napkins used at the closing reception of an international congress in Berlin with smallpox viruses. The New Yorker virologist James Baldrin and the medicine student from Dortmund Sammie Mahale are among the victims. A few days after the attack the whole world is panicking with 37 countries recording a smallpox outbreak.
Terrorists manage to infect the napkins used at the closing reception of an international congress in Berlin with the smallpox virus. New York virologist James Baldrin and Dortmund medical student Sammie Mahale are among the victims. Within days of the attack, 37 countries are recording smallpox outbreaks — and the whole world is in panic.
The second episode of The Invisible Enemy, follows researchers such as Brazilian Luiz Pereira, American Nathan Wolfe, and French scientist Xavier Pourrut deep into the tropical forests of South America, Asia, and Africa — and their search for the next pandemic threat. These are the still-unknown viruses that could soon make the leap from animals to humans. Experts fear that during outbreaks of deadly viruses like Ebola or Marburg, terrorists could obtain germs from infected individuals and then synthetically replicate them — as was done in Soviet laboratories two decades ago.
Smallpox is the only virus to have been officially eradicated — which is why only older generations are generally vaccinated against it. But stocks of the virus are still held by certain governments, and this episode goes on to show what might happen if those stockpiles were used as a weapon of mass destruction.
Terrorists manage to infect the napkins used at the closing reception of an international congress in Berlin with smallpox viruses. The New Yorker virologist James Baldrin and the medicine student from Dortmund Sammie Mahale are among the victims. A few days after the attack the whole world is panicking with 37 countries recording a smallpox outbreak.
Terrorists manage to infect the napkins used at the closing reception of an international congress in Berlin with the smallpox virus. New York virologist James Baldrin and Dortmund medical student Sammie Mahale are among the victims. Within days of the attack, 37 countries are recording smallpox outbreaks — and the whole world is in panic.
The second episode of The Invisible Enemy, follows researchers such as Brazilian Luiz Pereira, American Nathan Wolfe, and French scientist Xavier Pourrut deep into the tropical forests of South America, Asia, and Africa — and their search for the next pandemic threat. These are the still-unknown viruses that could soon make the leap from animals to humans. Experts fear that during outbreaks of deadly viruses like Ebola or Marburg, terrorists could obtain germs from infected individuals and then synthetically replicate them — as was done in Soviet laboratories two decades ago.
Facts
Filmed on location in Germany, Switzerland, France, Danmark, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Ukraine, the USA, Brazil, Gabon, Kongo, Hongkong and Indonesia.
First aired 14th November 2008, 8:15pm, ARTE / 6th May 2009, 11:30pm
Credits
Written, directed and produced by: Petra Höfer, Freddie Röckenhaus and Francesca D’Amicis
Cast: Bernhard Bauer (Carlo Urbani), Ilaria Restifo (Giuliana Urbani), Hiromi Tojo (Prof. Liu), Sheng Yang (Johnny Chen), Ya Li Abbrederis (Frau Kwan)
Director of Photography: Johannes Imdahl, Samir Saad, Thomas Schäfer, Marcus von Kleist, Sean Healey, Axel Petrovan
Video Editor: Jörg Wegner
Line Producer: Svenja Mandel
Narration: Benjamin Völz
Commissioning Editors: Britta Susann Lübke (Radio Bremen), Gabriele Conze (WDR Cologne)
A colourFIELD production commissioned by Radio Bremen, ARTE, WDR Cologne
