Affiliate Disclaimer
Some links in this article are affiliate links. We may earn a small commission if you make a purchase through these links, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products we find useful to our readersThe world has come across many types of viruses and some of them are novel. A less known virus to the world is the zombie virus. This virus has a history of more than 30000 years and it is a giant virus that was frozen in Northern Russia. It is not frozen anymore and even after thousands of years, the virus is infectious. A scientific name for zombie virus is pithovirus sibericum.
Sources say that initial contacts with zombies are commonly traumatic. It could be an experience of shock, fear, disbelief. Another saddening thing is that the response of the country’s government is slower than the growth of viruses which leads to the collapse of society.
The cause of the zombie virus is unclear yet. There are different versions saying different things about the zombie apocalypse. Although there are no proper resources to have a clear awareness about this virus yet there are certain facts you must know. We have made an effort that can give our readers an idea about knowing more about zombie viruses.
Top 10 Things you didn’t know about Zombie Virus Apocalypse
1. Mad cow disease is a cause
One of the possible causes for the zombie apocalypse is “mad cow disease” according to a 1980s discovery. The disease affects the cows with abnormal brain and spinal cord which causes the animal to become mindless and leads to attacking the everyone around. People who accidentally eat the meat of infected cows or even to build a zombie army may become zombies. The common symptoms of this virus from cows as hosts are seizures, muscles jerking, delusions, hallucinations, loss of physical movement coordination.
2. Zombies are the lone creatures
If you are thinking that zombies come in swarms then you are wrong. There may be single infected creatures going to the nearby doors. Probably, you will not be able to detect the zombie apocalypse but you need to have your thoughts around for safety and survival.
3. Brain parasites and neurotoxins are dreadful
There are certain brain toxins that infect the rats and travel through your water ways. These infected rats are preyed on by the cats by the same parasite. If you feel that your cat is trying to kill you then it could be a zombie infected creature. These parasites like toxoplasma are found in half of the population. If a person is infected with such a virus then there is a 50% chance of turning into a zombie and being a part of the apocalypse.
Another infection is with neurotoxins where a person is alive but the brain becomes dead and it is defined as a zombie. There is a history of such poisons being used to create zombies and the undetected experiment might result in a zombie apocalypse.
4. Fire is not a savior
A best example to say that fire is of no use to destroy the zombies is the zombie games. If you have been a player of zombie games then you would know this fact. There is a possibility of killing zombies with fire but then the infected creatures don’t realize that they are into fire and keep spreading the fire all over before they become ash. If fire is the rescue from zombies then everything will be turning into ash meanwhile zombies will be the final worry of attack.
5. Nano viruses research and creation
An active research is in process for creating nanobots which are the small chips to place the brain. These nanobots keep the creature alive for a month even after the death. The research is ongoing to prepare the bots to repair the damaged brain wires so that it can be controlled by the bot.
Though the researchers are trying to revive the human’s brain cells, the outer layer makes them dead. These creatures will be left with motor skills which means they will be able to walk and destroy anything that comes in the path. However, it is yet to know if the research is going on stem cells to help humans or just to form an undead army.
6. Zombie may eat you if you get closer
Zombies are seen as ghouls who consume a living. For the fact, the people who are involved in the study on zombies are equal to consumption. So, we can imagine that zombies are the worst version of humans and it is scary. A famous suggestion is that zombies can wander in the mall randomly similarly like humans. Hence, it is difficult to detect the human as a zombie if at all you have identified then you must not get coser.
7. They are all over
Many cultures across the world believe that the dead people can return to life and walk among the living humans. They could be the mere tricksters who are doing these acts for fun or doing it for the sake of revenge who were treated unfairly when they were alive. For example, a mother who died during childbirth. The horrifying fact is that there are very few places where these incidents have not ever occurred in the entire world.
8. Zombies are of various types
Scientists have found bacteria, viruses and parasites which have the similar qualities of zombies. There is debate if the neurotoxins exist and a dedicated branch of pharmacology to detect it. It is also to know whether these harmful compounds are found in nature.
9. There are many diseases that have similar symptoms like zombie virus
The real world has many diseases with the matching symptoms of zombie virus. Expect the hunger for human brains; other symptoms are similar with other diseases. The symptoms include sleeping which causes when the brain is attacked by the parasites which results in slurred speech and lack of concentration of the affected person. The necrosis attacks the groups of cells which causes a breakdown which affects the communication between skin cells and nervous system. Gradually, the skin starts to wither meanwhile the basic functions are impaired one by one. Dysarthria, a disease, affects the speech center of the brain and people lose control over their voice volume. And they sound like a zombie craving brains when they moan.
10. They don’t drown
If you are thinking that zombies drowning them can destroy them forever then it is impossible. The idea is unclear if they walk, wander at the bottom of the lake or end coming out from the other side but keeping them underwater is not a way for you to escape from zombies. And how can you even think to drown them in a lake as it becomes contaminated with the crap. So, you must be prepared with some other way to survive from zombies.
Top Zombie Cases in Real World
We still see the zombies as the fictional characters in movies and novels. And believing that real zombie cases were in the history is hard. Also there is a possibility of a zombie in the form animal, insect and human too. The real cases in the past may lighten the fact that the zombie apocalypse is not an imaginary story. Here are some of the reported real cases of zombies-
Plant zombies
In a 2014 research, John Innes Center in Norwich, the UK found that a bacteria termed “phytoplasma” is capable of infecting the plants to become zombies. The plants like goldenrods are infected with the bacteria and put out the leaf like structure out instead of blooming which calls more insects and infect other plants too. The researchers say that the bacteria destroy the lifecycle of the plants.
Human zombie
In the year 1997 there were two publications in The Lancet and it says they analyzed the three cases from Haiti who were identified as real human zombies. One of the cases of a 30 year old woman had reportedly died soon after falling sick and her family realized that the woman was walking like a zombie after 3 years after her death. Another young man died at 18 year age and came back as a zombie after 18 years at a cockfight. The last case was of an 18 year old woman who died and was found again after 13 years of her death.
Dr. Douyon and Prof. Littlewood studied these three cases and found that they are not the victims of any evil spell. In fact, they concluded that there are medical reasons to elaborate these zombie cases.
In the first case, the person had catatonic schizophrenia which is a rare condition that people act like zombies,in the second case, the person’s brain was damaged and the third person had a learning disability.
There was a case study in which a 53 year old woman who complained that she was dead and smelled foul and wished to take her to the mortuary to be stored along with the dead people. Another man of 65 year old believed that his organs stopped working which included the brain. Many such cases have been forced not to deny that zombies are real.
Conclusion
You must have heard many circulations about the zombie apocalypse which is more dreadful than death. But the mere rumours are not to panic and if you want to have awareness about this life threatening infection then know the facts which are gathered with real life examples and case studies. You are justifying your fear with the facts. There are few case studies which give an idea about zombie apocalypse and science back research. But also there are certain yet to research segments on the same and left to decide if zombies are real or not until the researches are published.