Why Don't Animals Turn into Zombies in 'The Walking Dead'?

Pedro_P

Horses play a bigger role in this season of AMC's "The Walking Dead." Good thing they don't seem to turn into zombies.
Credit: AMC Networks
▼ Animals do not turn into zombies — only humans do. At least, that seems to be the rule so far in AMC's sci-fi zombie thriller, " The  Walking Dead" (which airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EST/8 p.m. CST).
The characters in the show have now survived the zombie apocalypse for many years and are striving to build self-sustaining  communities. This development has made certain animals, especially mules and horses, valuable creatures to have around.
But, at least so far, none of the characters seem concerned that the horses could turn into enormous, galloping, human-eating zombies anytime soon.
We don't know for sure what kind of pathogen causes the zombie disease — it could be bacterial, viral, fungal, protozoan or maybe even something from outer spacethat humans have never seen before (this is sci-fi, after all). However, certain events in the series suggest it's a virus that's causing the zombie outbreak, such as when the characters learn that everyone turns into a zombie when they die, whether or not they were ever bitten by one.
So, if this virus is so widespread, how is it possible that only humans are affected by it?
"Some viruses are very species-specific," said Tara Smith, a microbiologist and infectious disease epidemiologist at Kent State University in Ohio. For example, measles and small pox, she said. "Humans seem to be the only host for those, they don't jump species."
But of course, not all viruses are limited to a single species.
"One of the ways we think Ebola may have spread into people, especially the 2014 West  African people, was contact with bats or potentially eating bats, we're not 100 percent sure," Smith said. "Either way, bats seem to  the reservoir, but they don't seem to be affected by it. It's not symptomatic in them, but it causes huge symptoms in humans."
And, that's true for other viruses, too, such as hantavirus, Smith said. Rodents carry hantavirus in the western United States and when they poop, their droppings dry and the virus becomes aerosolized, then people breathe in the virus and become infected.
It's possible the zombie virus in "The Walking Dead" works in the same way, Smith said.
On the other hand, the virus could affect a few select groups of animals, "like flu viruses," she said. "Some flu viruses can affect a broad range of species, and we saw that with H1N1 outbreak in 2009."
The H1N1 flu, also known as swine flu, is a respiratory infection that started in pigs and became a pandemic in the United States in 2009. The virus is still widespread and continues to show up seasonally, according to the Centers for Disease Control and  Prevention. (▪ ▪ ▪)

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Rhett_Bassard

That hantavirus is VERY deceptive...

pksddn

Interesting Read. Thanks for sharing!

Pedro_P

Rhett Bassard 20-11-2018 01:26 AM
That hantavirus is VERY deceptive...

Agent Smith: Matrix Humans Are A Virus



I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species and I realized that you're not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You're a plague and we are the cure...


◢ Watch the video directly on youtube ◣