What is the name of the fictional virus in the 2002 film 28 Days Later?

The fictional infection in 28 Days Later is called the Rage virus.

In the film, the virus is released after animal-rights activists enter a laboratory and free infected chimpanzees. It spreads through contact with infected blood or saliva and rapidly produces extreme aggression. The opening sequence establishes the outbreak before Jim wakes in an abandoned London hospital.

The Rage virus is different from the undead plague in many classic zombie films. Victims remain biologically alive, but the infection causes violent behavior and social collapse. This idea helped popularize fast-moving infected antagonists in later horror and action films.

The movie never presents a complete scientific explanation for the virus, and it does not identify a conventional cure. Instead, the story focuses on survival, quarantine, and the moral choices made by people living through the disaster. The 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later expands the outbreak’s consequences but retains the same fictional infection.