Pedro Snchez only lacks the zombies, but what would they be like? – Gearrice

President Pedro Sanchez declared on September 13 in an interview for RTVE that, except for one zombie invasion, the Government of Spain has had to deal with a multitude of unprecedented situations in recent years. And how right you are. A global pandemic, a storm that left a good part of the country buried in snow, a volcano There have been many unusual catastrophes that he has had to deal with in this legislature. Logically, he joked about the zombie part, but the truth is that in other countries they dont see it as something so unlikely.

Without going further, USA has its own guide on how to survive a zombie apocalypse. This includes data such as the items you must have an emergency kitthe list of contacts that should always be at hand or certain methods to design an evacuation route.

Actually, designing a zombie emergency plan is quite extreme. But, if we let the imagination run wild, what would zombies be like if they actually existed? Or rather, what exactly would happen to them? There are many virusas well as others pathogenic microbes, which can cause diseases with symptoms similar to those of fictional zombies. But there are especially two that are quite striking: the rabies virus and the toxoplasmosis protozoan.

Before talking about the pathogens that could trigger a zombie apocalypse, it is worth remembering the measures against these creatures planned by USA.

According to him Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the emergency kit before a zombie apocalypse should include water, non-perishable food, medications, tools and supplies, such as a knife or battery-powered radio, hygiene supplies, such as soap, bleach, or towels, and bedding and personal clothing. In addition, important documents, such as an identification document or drivers license, should be at hand. You never know when you might need it.

As for the quantities, they are also important. For example, in the case of water, there must be one gallon per day for each person. Or, what is the same, just over 3.7 liters.

Also, agree on a meeting place with friends and family and plan your evacuation so that nothing is left to chance when the zombies arrive.

When talking about zombies and what they would be like in real life, it is inevitable to think of the rabies virus, more than anything because its symptoms, when the disease is sufficiently advanced, are quite similar to that of zombies.

It is a virus that affects the central nervous systemcausing fatal encephalitis in the 100% of cases. Fortunately, there is a very effective vaccine, which can be administered during the incubation period, before the disease reaches its face. In that case, the probability of salvation is very high.

Symptoms start out similar to the flu, with fever, weakness, and headache. However, once the disease begins to progress and reaches the central nervous system, behavioral symptoms begin. Infected people show up confused, with anxiety, hallucinations, paralysis and violent behavior.

The latter, in reality, is the way the virus spreads. Among its hosts are common animals such as dogs, whose violent behaviors are usually accompanied by bites. Viral particles are found in saliva. Therefore, the more violence, the more bites and the better the pathogen will spread. Lets not forget that zombies infect their victims through bites, so we have another reason why it could be compared.

Another important symptom in this regard is hydrophobia. Patients with the rabies virus often show reluctance to drink water. This also facilitates the expansion of the pathogen, since the saliva would be diluted with water and fewer viral particles would be passed in each bite.

It should be noted that all these symptoms begin after a incubation period which can range from more than a week to a year. At that time there is still time to administer the vaccine or an antibody-based treatment. Once that incubation period passes, there has only been one case in the history of a person who has survived.

Is about Jeanna Giesse, a 15-year-old girl who was bitten by a bat in Wisconsin, United States, in 2004. Her mother cleaned the wound with hydrogen peroxide and did not give it much importance. However, 37 days later, the young woman began to show symptoms of the rabies virus. When she was taken to the hospital, the professionals who treated her chose to induce a coma. Thus, perhaps her immune system could be fully employed in fighting the infection before it reached the brain and reached the fatal stage.

After seven days, during which they were administering antiviral drugs, Jeanna woke up from her coma, fully recovered. To this day it is not known exactly how she was saved. Her idea is that, by putting her brain in that resting state, she protected herself so that her own body would fight the disease. However, it is also believed that her immune system may be specially prepared to fight rabies or that she was infected with a weaker variant of the virus.

What is clear is that the symptoms of the zombies in the movies indicate that they could have a virus similar to rabies, but not exactly that. It is enough to see that Jeanna took more than a month to manifest symptoms and that some people take a whole year. In the movies, once the zombie bites a human, the human is automatically lost. It could be a mutated rabies virus, but lets leave the imagination at this point and look at the next option.

Toxoplasmosis is usually conceived as a disease that only affects pregnant women, but it is much more than that. The protozoan that causes it, Toxoplasma gondii, is a true master of mind control. Although he has no conscience, logically.

Their preferred hosts are cats. It is in your body where it reproduces best; so, although it infects other species, its primary objective is to reach them. For this reason, when he arrives at the nervous system of their hosts, manipulates them to take him to his destination. For example, it has been observed that infected mice are attracted to the cat urine odor. And they dont run away when one of them approaches, as you might expect. Thus, they become easy prey for those kittens who do not know that, deep down, they are the victim of a greater evil. Something similar also happens with chimpanzees, which they lose any fear of leopards.

In the case of humans, the disease often passes unnoticed. Only developing fetuses are especially vulnerable, which is why a great control of the disease is carried out in pregnant women. But even so, some people can also have symptoms. And those may be related precisely to a increased aggressiveness and lack of impulse control. It has even been found to be related to some psychotic outbreaks.

Therefore, we could consider this protozoan as another good zombie maker. The result is not as similar as that of rage, but we are really here to imagine. Because no, zombies, as they are described in cinema and literature, do not exist. In principle, Pedro Snchez can rest easy.

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Pedro Snchez only lacks the zombies, but what would they be like? - Gearrice

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero