Steven Sonderbergh's star- studded film "Contagion" premise is about a lethal species-jumping virus that spread rapidly around the world. Director Steven Sonderbergh has said in interviews that he aimed for scientific and medical realism in the film going so far as to retain a panel of leading virologists and epidemiologists as consultants in the film. But just how realistic is the film? Could such a scenario really happen in real life?

According to experts in the field the movie is scary because it really could happen.

"Based on my knowledge of the movie, it is a dose of realism. It deals with issues that have, what we call in the business of investigating outbreaks, biological plausibility," said Barbara Reynolds, senior adviser for crisis communication at CDC.

"How the virus unfolds in the movie is true to life in terms of how a virus behaves," said Reynolds, who was involved in some of the discussions with Warner Bros.

"This movie and others like it make a point that we are never safe from emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. They are a continuous public health threat," said Dr. Ali Khan, Assistant Surgeon General and director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response at CDC.

Viruses can easily spread from continent to continent and also re-emerge as new strains that would baffle scientists. The United Nations has recently warned of a possible new strain of bird flu in Asia. There are viruses that have spread in countries other than its point of origin which underscores how easy viruses can cause mass panic.

"The main thing that's scary about the movie is that it's pretty close to what reality could have been if SARS hadn't been averted," said Dr. David Perlman, immediate past president of the Colorado Infectious Disease Society of America. "

The recent outbreaks of SARS and H1N1 also points how small the global community has become with international travel. Viruses can now spread to any point in the globe.

Another aspect in the film that can happen in real life is how the virus spreads from species to species.

"In the modern era, 'viral traffic' between wild animal reservoirs and humans is increasingly the way new diseases emerge," said William Muraskin, professor of urban studies at Queens College of the City University of New York in Flushing. "HIV/AIDS and SARS are two good examples."

"The great fear, however, is that a virus can not only 'jump species,' but also adapt rapidly in humans to spread widely and effectively," said Dr. Harley Rotbart, professor and vice chair of pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and author of "Germ Proof Your Kids."

The most important thing to remember should a virus going wild happen is that people shouldn't panic.

"We know that sooner or later the scenario in 'Contagion' will happen, but we are not helpless to deal with it," said Ira Longini, a professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida in Gainesville.