Yeah obviously these people aren't undead in the supernatural sense. But if this disease leaves its victims in a state that mimics the mindlessness that the horror stories describe then who's to say the term "zombie apocalypse" would not be appropriate if this disease spreads around the world? 
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This, more than anything, sounds like another case of over-embellishment.
I would have linked it to my FB for others to see....but I didn't even recognize the news site (not that I looked hard)....and with all the "scratched out" statements and even others saying "the aggressive state is debateable"....yeah, sounds like internet rumors and crap to me.
(Like the guy with wings last week...obvious fake.)
Besides, an infection that makes it victims "set fire" to things....REALLY? Humans do not have an innate ability to set fire to anything.....so, it makes the person go out and hunt for matches/lighter...and then find something that will burn? All while making the person irrationally aggressive?
Really?
Working in infectious diseases....i'm calling this B.S. *shrugs*
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First the Ugandan Booby Trap and now this?
Goodbye, I guess.
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Don't know if it makes it anymore legit but CNN covered it. And a text version.
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Originally Posted by Mr_True_Shot
This, more than anything, sounds like another case of over-embellishment.
I would have linked it to my FB for others to see....but I didn't even recognize the news site (not that I looked hard)....and with all the "scratched out" statements and even others saying "the aggressive state is debateable"....yeah, sounds like internet rumors and crap to me. (Like the guy with wings last week...obvious fake.) Besides, an infection that makes it victims "set fire" to things....REALLY? Humans do not have an innate ability to set fire to anything.....so, it makes the person go out and hunt for matches/lighter...and then find something that will burn? All while making the person irrationally aggressive? Really? Working in infectious diseases....i'm calling this B.S. *shrugs* Mr. True Shot. |
I find your lack of signature disturbing.
Crud. I knew it was only a matter of time. *grabs shotgun and machete, starts boarding up windows*
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Things like 28 Days Later, Zombieland, and Left 4 Dead have shown that a zombie apocalypse can happen via a disease infecting victims and making them into mindless monsters. So it's not like that kind of apocalypse is anything new. Plus, to be honest, those types of zombies are way more believable and threatening than the slow walking undead types.
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Originally Posted by Lothic
Yeah obviously these people aren't undead in the supernatural sense. But if this disease leaves its victims in a state that mimics the mindlessness that the horror stories describe then who's to say the term "zombie apocalypse" would not be appropriate if this disease spreads around the world?
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No disease makes people become fire bugs. While there may be a real physical problem, there is definitely a psychosomatic one, too. Which doesn't make it an unreal problem... just not completely physical.
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Boarding up windows?|
Originally Posted by Inazuma
Crud. I knew it was only a matter of time. *grabs shotgun and machete, starts boarding up windows*
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Pshaw. Pshaw I say.
The obvious solution to zombies surrounding your house is to line it with treadmills. Plus, you get free electricity if you hook those treadmills up to generators.
Well we all know this tragedy can be stopped if we send a Ugandan Prince our hard earned cash via email. I have faith he will make it his priority to see that all the victims get the proper treatment.
Now I just have to find him so I can ask about a receipt.
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Originally Posted by Xzero45
Things like 28 Days Later, Zombieland, and Left 4 Dead have shown that a zombie apocalypse can happen via a disease infecting victims and making them into mindless monsters. So it's not like that kind of apocalypse is anything new. Plus, to be honest, those types of zombies are way more believable and threatening than the slow walking undead types.
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Movies or videogames as evidence? Please.
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Uh, you are aware there's actually a difference between movies/games and real life don't you? Sure the "fictional idea" of these kind of zombies may be nothing new, but the fact that we can apply that fictional idea to something in real life does seem vaguely noteworthy to me. |
Originally Posted by Xzero45
Things like 28 Days Later, Zombieland, and Left 4 Dead have shown that a zombie apocalypse can happen via a disease infecting victims and making them into mindless monsters. So it's not like that kind of apocalypse is anything new. Plus, to be honest, those types of zombies are way more believable and threatening than the slow walking undead types.
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Bwa? 28 days totally happened! That was a documentary!
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Originally Posted by Lothic
Uh, you are aware there's actually a difference between movies/games and real life don't you? Sure the "fictional idea" of these kind of zombies may be nothing new, but the fact that we can apply that fictional idea to something in real life does seem vaguely noteworthy to me.
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Make a man a fire and keep him warm for the day, SET a man on fire and keep him warm for the rest of his life.
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This non-communicable disease looks like: something that attacks part of the brain, leaving permanent damage. (Much-like river blindness attacks the eyes and causes permanent blindness.)
I didn't see any kids chowing down on human flesh/brains....I didn't see any gnawing, except for when the kid was tied up. Animals bite at things when they are tied up or chained against their will....and if these children had damaged brains and behaved more out of instinct.....totally reasonable.
In my opinion, rabies is FAR more like "zombie-like" than this disease. This disease only seems to cause damage to the brain.
Once more information (or the correct information) is put out there....it'll be a "devastating disease" for sure, but....nothing like zombies.
News reporters aren't the best scientist.....
There is nothing close to a virus/parasite/disease that is evolved enough to even give similar symptoms to a zombie infection. I'm, of course, talking the 28 Days Later version....as the Night of the Living Dead ones are impossible. Literally.
Rabies, while, it does affect human/animal behavior to bite others (thus transmitting the disease)....obviously, it's not very effective versus our society. There's a vaccine....it makes the infected VERY uncoordinated.....and it turns the brain to mush while it does it.
I'm not saying that diseases may not change the behavior of the host....I'm saying, it's not ever gonna cause a zombie apocalypses scenario.
What we should all be REALLY REALLY more concerned about is influenza. Seriously. "Contagion" is a much more likely movie to happen than 28 Days Later.
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Right because as we all know the details and characteristics of "zombism" is clearly established scientific fact. Sure news reporters love to make leaps of logic in order to generate sensational headlines. But let's not be too critical of them, especially in this case. |
Originally Posted by Mr_True_Shot
News reporters aren't the best scientist.....
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And while I'd agree that known diseases like Rabies and Influenza should probably be more worrisome to us than a "zombie virus" I don't think it's totally impossible to think that there could be a new disease mutation out there that could cause people to mimic many of the "classic" behaviors of movie zombies. It's not exactly like a "real" life zombie (or even a pandemic of such a new illness) would have to act/react 100% identical to a movie zombie in the first place.
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Believe me, I've read reports on scientific "discoveries" from reporters that would make the scientific-baby-Jesus cry 
That's the thing. Mutations are mostly deleterious. A beneficial (to the organism) mutation is pretty rare.
There would have to be such a huge amount of mutations in the rabies virus alone to make it even closely resemble a zombie virus.
In the grand scheme of things, something jumping species and killing us is way easier (because all ya gotta do is interfere with cellular processes or make things grow when they shouldn't)....but to manipulate our brains....and in such ways to make it beneficial behavior to the organism so it can procreate in a new host.....well, it's like the odds of walking out of your house and being hit by 10 different meteors at the same time (obviously not from the same meteor shower.)
While the chances of influenza recombining with pig or bird or bat genes and then transmitting to humans (who have never seen that variant of an antigen)....well....that's much more likely-- especially with the way influenza reproduces.
No, far more likely, humanity with hack, cough, and drown in their own mucus WAY before people are taken over by a virus/bacteria/parasite and made to chew on others to transmit a disease.
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Just FYI:
This isn't that recent, only coming 'to light' now due to the Kony viral campaign.
This nodding disease goes back decades and is thought to be caused by malnutrition.
That said, something like this combining with SARS or H1 and... we could have something!
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I am quite worried about this. I read a non-zombie-bias version of this outbreak in other news outlets. I can only imagine the suffering these people go through.
Or... I could do a little more than imagine. For over a year, I had myself a problem that as of yet is completely undiagnosed. Every single day, I would get the following symptoms from anywhere for a few minutes to well over an hour:
#1: Bodily shaking and a loss of equilibrium
#2: Mental confusion similar to dyslexia and greatly hindered problem solving.
#3: Enhanced emotions of anger and nervousness to incredible severity (missing a step on the stairs would jolt my gut so hard it would hurt for the rest of the day)
#4: A tingling/burning sensation in my limbs after the episodes
And several other minor problems that I can't remember at the time. This would happen every day, sometimes like clockwork. This made me miserable and put a halt to my academic progress, but it was also scary as hell. I never knew if I was going to fly off the handle and attack someone for no apparent reason. It was horrible, really. I'm glad that it stopped after I had moved out of my old apartment, but to this day I am still scared that it will return.
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One thing I found interesting is the pyromanic tendencies the disease manifests in some of the infected.
Because I recalled reading something similar recently with the hastily diagnosed conversion disorder outbreak in New York. Those girls displayed some of the same symptoms...
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I think I already acknowledged that humanity is far more likely going to be wiped out "apocalypse" wise by some variation of the Influenza virus. Scientists generally accept the idea that we are actually well overdue for a massive pandemic of that disease as it is.|
Originally Posted by Mr_True_Shot
Believe me, I've read reports on scientific "discoveries" from reporters that would make the scientific-baby-Jesus cry
That's the thing. Mutations are mostly deleterious. A beneficial (to the organism) mutation is pretty rare. There would have to be such a huge amount of mutations in the rabies virus alone to make it even closely resemble a zombie virus. In the grand scheme of things, something jumping species and killing us is way easier (because all ya gotta do is interfere with cellular processes or make things grow when they shouldn't)....but to manipulate our brains....and in such ways to make it beneficial behavior to the organism so it can procreate in a new host.....well, it's like the odds of walking out of your house and being hit by 10 different meteors at the same time (obviously not from the same meteor shower.) While the chances of influenza recombining with pig or bird or bat genes and then transmitting to humans (who have never seen that variant of an antigen)....well....that's much more likely-- especially with the way influenza reproduces. No, far more likely, humanity with hack, cough, and drown in their own mucus WAY before people are taken over by a virus/bacteria/parasite and made to chew on others to transmit a disease. Mr. True Shot. |
I simply believe you're being a bit overly strict about what your definition of a real life zombie might be. I'm open to the -possibility- that there might be some kind of disease some day that will cause enough zombie-like symptoms that people will, accurately or not, call the victims of the disease "zombies" just because it's a close enough description in the popular culture of the time. A real life zombie wouldn't have to be all about "eating brainnns" to be otherwise considered zombie-like. In fact this so-called "nodding disease" would only need some kind of wasting/necrotic element to cause its victims bodies to rot away in its final stages to be a more reasonable likeness to most people's expectations of what a zombie might turn out to be like.
I realize that people probably went a bit too far in calling the victims of this particular disease zombies. But again I'll just point out that real life doesn't have to follow the exact blueprint established by the movies. If a disease ever comes along that's "close enough" to what the movies have suggested then people will in fact call its victims "zombies" as a simple convenience regardless if it's strictly legitimate to do so or not.
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You don't say!
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Originally Posted by MaestroMavius
One thing I found interesting is the pyromanic tendencies the disease manifests in some of the infected.
Because I recalled reading something similar recently with the hastily diagnosed conversion disorder outbreak in New York. Those girls displayed some of the same symptoms... |
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Originally Posted by Lothic
I think I already acknowledged that humanity is far more likely going to be wiped out "apocalypse" wise by some variation of the Influenza virus. Scientists generally accept the idea that we are actually well overdue for a massive pandemic of that disease as it is.
I simply believe you're being a bit overly strict about what your definition of a real life zombie might be. I'm open to the -possibility- that there might be some kind of disease some day that will cause enough zombie-like symptoms that people will, accurately or not, call the victims of the disease "zombies" just because it's a close enough description in the popular culture of the time. A real life zombie wouldn't have to be all about "eating brainnns" to be otherwise considered zombie-like. In fact this so-called "nodding disease" would only need some kind of wasting/necrotic element to cause its victims bodies to rot away in its final stages to be a more reasonable likeness to most people's expectations of what a zombie might turn out to be like. I realize that people probably went a bit too far in calling the victims of this particular disease zombies. But again I'll just point out that real life doesn't have to follow the exact blueprint established by the movies. If a disease ever comes along that's "close enough" to what the movies have suggested then people will in fact call its victims "zombies" as a simple convenience regardless if it's strictly legitimate to do so or not. |
Yeah, i mean it doesn't have to be word for word....but my point is, this disease seems just to cause brain damage. They even said the girl in the school uniform has been that way for years-- most likely, her immune system cleared up the disease long ago and it's just a matter of brain damage.
Or...possibly, it was heavy metals in the area. Or some other such cause. Who knows, it might even be malnutrition. My "not the best scientists" case meant that reporters can listen to anything villagers say (who can string together things that might not be related) and then the reporter says: "they start fires, they bite people, they levitate in the air and spew laser beams from their eyes!!!"
I'm saying, this disease more likely caused brain damage.....which, a hammer can also do....but i'm sure the media wouldn't call a hammer the device that began the zombie apocalypse.
Media sensationalism. I hate the media
Thus, possibly where the sense of frustration is coming from. Science is VERY often mis-understood when reported in the media.....superstition and unrelated events are often held as fact.
Recently, when everyone said: Oh look, H1N1 came and went....everyone made a big deal about it, we all got our vaccinations....and nothing happened.
What people don't realize is that, yes, we got our vaccinations: it very well might have been the thing that saved us from a pandemic.
Ok, i'll get off my soapbox. Media = evil!!!
Mr. True Shot.
Level 53: Arrows/Devices/Munitions Blaster
....and hopeless Science-Natzi.
http://www.dailytech.com/Baffling+Il...ticle24276.htm
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