To promote this film, Warner Bros. Pictures Canada built two giant Petri dishes treated with bacteria and fungi and set them in a Toronto storefront window. Over several days, the bacteria and fungi specimens grew to spell out the name of the film and form biohazard symbols.
In the magazine "New Scientist," from the article "Contagion Doesn't Skimp on Science" (2011-09-15) "It's hard to name many Hollywood blockbusters that are as invested in the realities of science as "Contagion" ... Although it is by no means flawlessly accurate--it's not a NOVA documentary--"Contagion" has been well fact-checked compared to most science themed-films...very few Hollywood productions realistically portray the process of science, both its successes and frustrations. That's what makes "Contagion" unique."
Consultant Dr. Ian Lipkin, professor of epidemiology at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health--said that the virus in the film is one that he created. He based it on some traits of the Nipah virus from Malaysia in the late 1990s, which spread from pigs to farmers.
Fears of the COVID-19 virus that began overwhelming the world in March 2020 have prompted movie fans to re-examine this movie. According to Warner Brothers, the film was listed at the 270th position among its catalogue titles at the end of December 2019. Since the beginning of 2020, this film has jumped to second place, bested only by the Harry Potter movies.
According to the screenwriters, the head used for the autopsy of Gwyneth Paltrow's character was originally created for the film Se7en (1995). The prop was reused for this movie.
Steven Soderbergh: as the voice of Jon Neal in the first scene. Beth (Gwyneth Paltrow) talks to him on her cellphone while waiting to board the plane at the airport.