How is zombie infection spread

When Ophiocordyceps unilateralis infect carpenter ants, they turn them into zombies. The ants become compelled to climb to the top of elevated vegetation, where they remain affixed and die.

The high elevation allows the fungus to grow and later spread its spores widely. Below, you can watch a video showing how the parasitic fungus infects its victims, leading them to their death. They found that a previously unknown species of the Zatypota wasp can manipulate spiders from the Anelosimus eximius species to an extent that researchers have never before witnessed in nature. But Fernandez-Fournier and team noticed that members of this species infected with Zatypota larva exhibited bizarre behavior, leaving their colony to weave tightly-spun, cocoon-like webs in remote locations.

Further research presented a gruesome string of events. The Zatypota wasps lay eggs on the abdomen of A. When the egg hatches and the wasp larva emerges, it starts feeding on the spider and begins to take control of its body. When the larva has gained full control of its host, it turns it into a zombie-like creature that is compelled to stray away from its mates and spin the cocoon-like nest that will allow the larva to grow into the adult wasp.

But while reviving dead humans may not be on the cards for our race just yet, reviving other organisms is. This can be particularly unsettling when we think that those organisms are… viruses. Giant viruses are called this way because, though still tiny, they are easily visible under the microscope. But there is something else that makes P.

It is a DNA virus that contains a large number of genes — as many as , to be precise. This is in stark contrast with other DNA viruses, such as the human immunodeficiency virus HIV , which only contains about 12 genes in all. The size of giant viruses, as well as the fact that they contain such a large amount of DNA, can make them particularly dangerous, explain the researchers who discovered P.

So the main consideration in a zombie epidemiology model is how many people a zombie can bite before it either runs out of victims or is destroyed. The zombies might be the slow shambling monsters of tradition, or perhaps the faster, more deadly infected humans portrayed in the film 28 Days Later.

If we assume that the zombies hunt naively, then population density is one of the most important considerations. A heavily populated area provides plenty of opportunities for any given zombie to feed, and infected cases will increase rapidly.

Isolated zombies, however, would have a tendency to shuffle around causing no real harm. This will ensure the infection does not lead to a zombie apocalypse. There are typically four response strategies to zombieism, each with a grounding in epidemiological study.

An obvious strategy is to quarantine the infected individuals , possibly with the hope of developing a cure or vaccine. While this can be successful, the process of developing a cure is lengthy and difficult, and maintaining a perfect quarantine is difficult and risky. Please consider making a contribution to Vox today to help us keep our work free for all. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.

By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. How would a zombie invasion play out in the US? These scientists modeled it. Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. And those red splotches kept growing… and growing… 28 days later, much of the eastern US was conquered — though, surprisingly, not all of it. It took a month for most of the US to be overrun When I ran the zombie simulator using the default assumptions, it took several months for zombies to overrun the entire United States.

Or at least that's the hope. Delivered Fridays. Thanks for signing up! Check your inbox for a welcome email. If the zombie virus can only be spread through a bite, it would likely be contained before resulting in an apocalypse.

The brain needs to be functional in order to send impulses to the muscles to move, and the heart also needs to be beating in order to circulate oxygen and nutrients. It might be impossible for zombies to be undead, but what about living beings who possess the same traits? Steven Scholzman, a professor at Harvard Medical School, told LiveScience that the afflictions of zombies are neurological, and not a problem with being undead. Neuroscientists Timothy Verstynen and Bradley Voytek echoed that sentiment when they teamed up to make a TED-Ed video in which they examine a zombie and use physical clues from the patient to diagnose the cause of the symptoms of the lumbering gait, incoherence, slurred and meaningless speech, and insatiable appetite.

Each of these traits is similar to known neurological conditions and can be connected to lesions on a specific area of the brain.