Volume 19, Number 5—May 2013
Another Dimension
Zombies—A Pop Culture Resource for Public Health Awareness
Table
A comparison of zombies folklore and rabies epidemiology
Characteristics | Zombies | Rabies |
---|---|---|
Susceptibility | Human infection requires fictional apocalyptic environment | Requires environment with infected animals, such as dogs or bats |
Cause | Tyrant virus, other viruses, unknown pathogens | Mononegavirales |
Virus transmission | Bites and scratches; unknown pathogen; spread human to human; 100% effectiveness | Bites; saliva infected with rabies virus; spread animal to human |
Virulence | Victims die and become “walking dead” | Victims die and stay dead |
Symptoms | Fever, chills, loss of hair and pigmentation, hobbling gait | Delirium, anxiety, stress, hallucinations, muscle spasms, convulsions |
Control methods | Avoiding bites from existing zombies; intervention includes destroying brain of zombies | Avoiding bites from dogs and bats; postexposure prophylaxis |
Exposure in popular culture | ||
Nonscientific media | Movies, books, television shows | Movies, books, television shows |
Scientific media | Zombie web sites, CDC, Nature | Academic journals, global health Web sites, NIH, CDC, Nature |
*CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; NIH, National Institutes of Health.