In real life, avian flu has not reached the United States. Not a single case has been detected here in a bird or a human. And though about 200 people worldwide have contracted avian flu since 1997, the virus has not yet shown much inclination to morph into a strain that can pass easily from human to human.

They worry that the made-for-TV movie's striking images -- neighborhoods quarantined behind barbed wire, armed mobs looking to commandeer scarce antiviral medicine, a running ticker across the bottom of the screen tallying deaths in the tens of millions -- could strike panic in some viewers.

Advertisements for "Fatal Contact" already have prompted calls to North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services, spokeswoman Debbie Crane said. A statewide hot line will take calls about pandemic flu from concerned residents from 8 to midnight. The state has warned hospitals and local public health departments that the movie might cause a bump in telephone calls and possibly in visits to clinics and emergency rooms.

It's Only a Movie, Folks

"I see this as the entertainment industry capitalizing on what has become a very public debate," said Dr. Leah Devlin, state health director. "Remember, this is a movie, not a documentary."

In real life, avian flu has not reached the United States. Not a single case has been detected here in a bird or a human. And though about 200 people worldwide have contracted avian flu since 1997, the virus has not yet shown much inclination to morph into a strain that can pass easily from human to human.

In "Fatal Contact," however, an outbreak among birds quickly mutates into a strain that infects humans, and an American businessman traveling in China becomes Patient Zero. He passes the virus to fellow passengers on an airplane, who carry it back to the United States. Before long, bodies are stacking up like cordwood, and "experts" are predicting a death toll of up to 350 million worldwide -- many times worse than the devastating flu outbreak of 1918.

Pretty gloomy stuff.

And medical experts don't exactly disagree with ABC's portrayal.

Brace for the Real Thing

Dr. David Weber, UNC Hospitals' director of hospital epidemiology, said the worst-case scenario that "Fatal Contact" serves up is probably unlikely. But he noted that few Americans would have believed the violence and mayhem after Hurricane Katrina were possible. Until they happened.

Devlin said "Fatal Contact" could drive home the preparedness message public health officials have been pushing.

In the movie, the son of the governor of Virginia dies because he runs out of diabetes medicine. Law enforcement is called in to quell unrest when panicked mobs storm grocery stores in search of food.

Such images might be just the thing to get people to stock up on tuna fish and bottled water. Or to finally ask their doctor about a backup bottle of insulin.

"People need to understand what the possible realities are," Devlin said.