Question: is it possible a zombie disease could happen

Jordan Kirby answered on 13 Mar 2019:

Hey Billington,

Now that entirely depends on what kinda zombies we are talking about!
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If we are talking traditional slow moving, poor reaction time and rotting flesh that have to be shot in the head to kill, then its unlikely. The only reason i say this is because the only disease which gives all the above conditions would be somthing like TSE (transmissible spongiform encephalopathy) which is a disease caused by somthing called prions ( think of prions as incorrectly folded proteins that can produce more of themselves and cause disease).
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Now prion diseases are very hard to get because you have to consume infected flesh (and even then they can be broken down or pass strait through you!) And the world government s are constantly testing food for their presence. So id say that type of zombie is unlikely to come about.
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The other classic zombie (which lets just call the RAGE zombie) would be the type from 28 days later. These ones are fast, aggressive and bitey. These zombies bear similar symptoms to the late stages of the disease rabies which is a viral disease spread through transfer of fluids like blood and saliva (mainly through being bitten by the person suffering the disease).
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Now rabies is incredibly unlikely to end the world for three reasons:
1. Once the disease gets to that stage where you are foaming at the mouth and aggressively trying to bite people you are at the final stages of the disease which death follows (very little time to spread the disease).
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2. Rabies as a disease hasnt changed all that much since its discovery and because of this we have working antiserum which is effective upto 15days post bite (rabies is a slow disease but is still almost 100% fatal if left untreated after bite).
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3. Education! People know what the disease is, what its symptoms are and what to do when you get bit! Education is a massive way to stop the spread of diseases.
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So yeah its unlikely that a “Zombie outbreak” will happen. You should be alot more worried about flu season! 😛
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Hope that helped billington (was fun for me!) If you want to ask any more questions in the comments please do and i will try to get back to them asap!