From zombie outbreaks to population-destroying plagues, Hollywood has never had a shortage of pandemic flicks. So, the public health-minded moviegoer might ask, what’s all the buzz about Contagion? What makes it different from a slew of other viral-takeover videos?

One reason is that Contagion gets it right, experts say.

“It's refreshing to see a movie that tries to be as authentic as this one,” said Caltech virologist Alice Huang in a discussion about the film. “I thought it was really good at depicting the real situation.”

The movie’s premise follows a bat virus which is transmitted to pigs and eventually to a woman visiting Hong Kong. As she returns home to the United States, she unknowingly spreads the disease, sparking a worldwide pandemic that will wipe out about a quarter of its victims. Meanwhile, as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention search feverishly for a cause and cure, their message of prevention is obscured by a charismatic blogger pushing conspiracy theories and homeopathic cures.

While some liberties were taken with both the science and how society might react to such a threat, many public health professionals felt the movie does plenty to support their cause.

“There was some caricature, but this film effectively conveyed public health concepts,” said RAND Health Director Arthur Kellermann in the discussion with Huang and UCLA infectious disease expert Peter Katona. “The importance of infrastructure, the importance of personnel, the notion that germs don't care about your politics or your ideology.”

The movie's authenticity (which critics also cite as a selling point) wasn’t achieved by chance. Director Steven Soderbergh worked closely with the CDC and even filmed parts of the movie at CDC headquarters in Atlanta. The partnership resulted in not only a more accurate depiction of viral spread, but may have also helped shift the presentation of epidemiologists from lab coat lackeys to the disease detectives they are.

“It seemed to do a pretty credible job of depicting what an [Epidemic Intelligence Service] officer would do in the field,” Douglas Hamilton, who heads the CDC’s EIS Corps, told the Washington Post. “It’s a movie, so everything is a little compressed. The other thing is that EIS officers are very much the point of the spear when CDC responds, but in something as significant as the disease being described in this movie, CDC’s response would be much more response than just sending one officer into the field.”

Aside from getting most of the facts straight and giving a long unremarked field of science its due, Contagion’s biggest appeal to the public health community might be good old-fashioned PR. (And speaking of PR, don’t miss this billboard made of real viruses and fungi.) With H1N1 largely out of view, it’s been easier for the public to forget all those lessons learned about preventing the spread of disease.

“The appearance of Contagion is a good thing,” Scott McPherson, a flu preparedness specialist and the Florida House of Representatives chief information officer, told the Desert Sun. “It's revved us up and gotten us back on our game.”