What would you really do if a ZOMBIE outbreak happened?
Threat of a ZOMBIE apocalypse is real
- Researcher from Ohio has published a study looking into zombie diseases
- She combines fictional diseases with the rise of real-world pathogens
- Tara Smith admits using zombies is 'a way to bring attention to subjects that otherwise might not seem interesting'
- But it highlights how poorly governments tackle diseases like Ebola
But such a threat may be more real than first thought.
A researcher from Ohio has published a study that looks at the rise of fictional 'zombie' infections in a tongue-in cheek way to draw attention to the real-word threat of how diseases spread.
She also uses it as a 'wake-up' call for the medical and community to fund research into how countries tackle outbreaks - using the recent Ebola crisis as an example.
In her study, 'Zombie infections: epidemiology, treatment, and prevention', Tara Smith, Associate Professor at Kent State University in Ohio studies the fictional spread of the Solanum virus, the Rage virus that featured in the 2002 film 28 Days Later and the Trixie virus in 1973 film, and 2010 remake, The Crazies.
Her research is published in the British Medical Journal.
Non-viral zombie causes include a form of the Black Plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, the cordyceps fungus, and a mutated strain of the prion infection, commonly known as 'mad cow' disease.
SURVIVING A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
The Zombie Survival Guide 2003 explained: 'At this rate, attacks will only increase, culminating in one of two possibilities.
'The first is that world governments will have to acknowledge, both privately and publicly, the existence of the living dead, creating special organisations to deal with the threat.
'In this scenario, zombies will become an accepted part of daily life - marginalized, easily contained, perhaps even vaccinated against.
'A second, more ominous scenario would result in an all-out war between the living and the dead.'
For the sake of humanity, 'we must ensure that the latter scenario does not occur,' added Smith, 'and that we work together as a unified global community to respond quickly to any and all new zombie threats.'
Source- DM