Zombie virus, HIV outbreak and West Nile fever: 7 episodes about epidemics

_______________________________

“Epidemic” (2019 – present)

A deadly virus strikes Moscow, which soon infects all of Russia. The country is plunged into chaos: people are leaving their homes in confusion, vandals are smashing shops, and the security forces are not letting carriers of the disease out of the city perimeter, hoping in this way to avoid a new “wave”. The main characters of “The Epidemic” are several families who flee the capital to the north to take refuge in a hunting lodge, cut off from the outside world.

In the second season, the scene will finally move to Karelia, where the heroes of the first season found refuge. They have to intersect with another group of survivors, consisting of four young people who are not very adapted to the post-apocalypse and a fugitive military man who joined them. Stocks of water and food are running out, and there is no end in sight to the chaos: even more severe trials await the heroes, where their lives are at stake.

“The Walking Dead” (2010 – 2022)

The series about the epidemic, which lasted for 12 years, sounds like something terrible for a world where the coronavirus still exists. However, the situation is much worse for the heroes of the series, because the world they knew has turned into a clearing for survival among a bunch of zombies who dream of biting and killing everything that moves. And the worst thing for the main characters is that you need to be afraid not only of zombies, but even those who should not pose any danger – the surviving people.

In the center of the story is the sheriff, whose main and only goal is to save the family. Together with her and a small number of survivors, he travels in search of a place where the zombie apocalypse has not yet reached. But all his long search for an island of safety leads to only one conclusion: it is difficult to hide from what is so firmly planted in people’s heads.

“Patient Zero” (2022)

The series, based on real events, tells about the outbreak of HIV that occurred in the Kalmyk city of Elista. At that time, the deadly disease in the USSR was not perceived as a real danger, or rather, the virus was simply denied at the official level, and therefore at first they were inactive, which eventually led to its wide distribution. The need for decisive action is understood by literally two: a provincial pediatrician and a metropolitan epidemiologist.

At first, doctors cannot believe that the tests confirmed their worst guesses. Then they try to figure out what to do about it, and how not to cause a panic. And the virus has been spreading all this time, and then the doctors are desperately trying to find patient zero in order to identify the chain of HIV spread by all his contacts and finally break it.

“Closed Season” (2020)

The plot of the series is very similar to real life: several yesterday healthy people suddenly die after being infected with an incomprehensible new virus. While doctors are trying to find out the nature of its origin, in a small resort town they begin to declare an epidemic and ask them to take precautions: wear masks, maintain social distance and avoid large crowds without having to. However, the population does not believe in the existence of the virus, and businessmen do not want to lose profits.

As a result, the fight against the virus also turns into a fight against those who are trying to prevent epidemiologists from stopping the spread of the disease: local entrepreneurs and lured police officers. Meanwhile, the score begins to go to tens and hundreds of dead, because the deadly virus is not going to wait until people figure it out among themselves.

“Confrontation” (2020 – 2021)

The spread of a deadly virus begins with a secret laboratory, where almost all employees die, except for one guard, who miraculously manages to escape. However, his escape turns into a massive epidemic that kills thousands of people. As a result, the world is split in two: on the one hand, those who are trying to preserve the foundations that existed before the post-apocalypse, on the other, those who yearn for a completely different life.

The leader of the latter turns out to be a certain Black Man who becomes a preacher calling to forget the dull “before” and follow the beautiful “after”. There are no prohibitions and restrictions in his picture of the world, but will the new world order be so rosy?

“12 Monkeys” (2015 – 2018)

The series, based on the film with Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis, tells about the post-apocalyptic future, where people have no hope left. The deadly virus has decimated literally the entire population of the planet, the survivors have no resources left to continue the fight, so they understand that they have no future. But there is a past! And that’s where it’s still possible to change the course of history.

Scientists have invented a time machine, and they are ready to send a person to a moment when a ruthless epidemic has not yet destroyed the entire population of the Earth. This person becomes a criminal, for whom a super-dangerous and responsible mission is a chance for redemption.

“The Strain” (2014 – 2017)

How could a plane make an emergency landing when there is not a single living person on board? This question is asked by scientists who are sent inside the liner to find out the reasons for what happened. Express inspection shows that everyone on the ship is dead: both passengers and crew, including pilots. However, later it turns out that they are alive, but infected with a dangerous virus of vampirism, which threatens to turn into a global epidemic.

The question arises before people: what to do next and how to act in order, on the one hand, to save the planet from potential extinction, and on the other hand, not to violate all moral and ethical standards and remain people themselves. The fate of the planet is in the hands of a group of doctors, a couple of townspeople and a rat catcher, because only they are ready to challenge the terrible virus.