The Spread of the Inevitable

by David
(Jacksonville, NC)

George Romero Receives Vanguard Award for Land of the Dead at CineVegas 2005

Zombie Master,

I admit am fairly new to zombie fascination. Being introduced to my first true zombie film with the release of George's "Land of the Dead", thus, throwing my fascination into overload. Since the release i have watched all of George's movies as well as some of the "not-a-zombie" movies such as 28 Days Later and Resident Evil.

My ultimate question is how the overall spread of the disease is caused. I have done some research already and have learned that you can become a zombie by being bitten. This makes sense due to the high amount of bacteria in the mouth. I have also learned that each person bitten has the disease inside of them ( i.e. in the case of George's vision), so that anyone who dies will become a zombie.

But, will the fluid transfer of a zombie cause the overall affect to occur quicker? Say for instance a zombie simply gets a little blood in your eye or mouth, thus allowing the disease to spread to your bloodstream. I understand this is kinda running off the "not-a-zombie" movie 28 Days Later, but it does raise a logical question. They are not actually bitting or scratching.

The reason I ask this is due to the zombie fight the cop had in "Dawn of the Dead" the remake. He cut his arm on the fountain and drew blood. Logically the bacteria of the zombie would have mixed in the water and so ultimately his bloodstream through the cut, but he did not turn.

David, Jacksonville, NC

David,

This is a very good question and one that is very important because of all the mis-information that is out there. (I am still interested to see how many lawsuits are brought up after the coming "zombie war" when the info given in 28 Days Later is shown to be erroneous.)

When discussing the infection rate and spread I find it easier to compare it two ways.

1. Think of the bite characteristic of the Komodo Dragon. The saliva of the Komodo dragon is a breeding place for virulent bacteria. A bite causes septicemia, a blood poisoning that results in SIRS or "systemic inflammatory response syndrome".

2. Think of the spread of the virus characteristic of HIV. HIV is a retrovirus, which means that it can replicate itself by performing a reverse transcription of its genome from RNA into DNA. It then integrates into the hosts genome and becomes part of the hosts DNA.

Now, what do all of these big words mean to the layman? It means that like the Komodo, the virus' main breeding ground is the mouth of the infected and like
HIV, the virus creates a blood disorder that first reacts like influenza, second kills the infected, and third reanimates the dead body to further propagate itself.

While there is always a threat of infection through external fluid transfer, ie. blood splatter from a close range gun shot, the best example that we have is Roger from the original DOTD. Though getting a face full of zombie blood from a close range killing, he does not contract the virus until he is bitten. Does this mean that it cannot happen? No, but it probably does mean that the concentration of the virus would have to be very high and we just don't have any cases yet to study.

For an example of what we have to look forward to when the zombie infection starts, look at the simulation created by Kevan Davis in 2003. It is a sobering piece of work.

Keep studying and furthering your education and you will be among those that actually have a chance of survival.

Good hunting and aim high,

The Zombie Master