CDC Posts about Zombie Apocalypse!!!

Fazeem_Blackall
Fazeem_Blackall Members Posts: 4,216 ✭✭
edited June 2011 in The Social Lounge
CDC Warns Public to Prepare for 'Zombie Apocalypse'

By Joshua Rhett Miller

Are you prepared for the impending zombie invasion?
That's the question posed by the Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention in a Monday blog posting gruesomely titled, "Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse." And while it's no joke, CDC officials say it's all about emergency preparation.

"There are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for," the posting reads. "Take a zombie apocalypse for example. That's right, I said z-o-m-b-i-e a-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you'll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you'll even learn a thing or two about how to prepare for a real emergency."
The post, written by Assistant Surgeon General Ali Khan, instructs readers how to prepare for "flesh-eating zombies" much like how they appeared in Hollywood hits like "Night of the Living Dead" and video games like Resident Evil. Perhaps surprisingly, the same steps you'd take in preparation for an onslaught of ravenous monsters are similar to those suggested in advance of a hurricane or pandemic.
"First of all, you should have an emergency in your house," the posting continues. "This includes things like water, food, and other supplies to get you through the first couple of days before you can locate a zombie-free refugee camp (or in the event of a natural disaster, it will buy you some time until you are able to make your way to an evacuation shelter or utility lines are restored)."


Other items to be stashed in such a kit include medications, duct tape, a battery-powered radio, clothes, copies of important documents and first aid supplies.
"Once you've made your emergency kit, you should sit down with your family and come up with an emergency plan," the posting continues. "This includes where you would go and who you would call if zombies started appearing outside your doorstep. You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake or other emergency."
The idea behind the campaign stemmed from concerns of radiation fears following the earthquake and tsunami that rocked Japan in March. CDC spokesman Dave Daigle told FoxNews.com that someone had asked CDC officials if zombies would be a concern due to radiation fears in Japan and traffic spiked following that mention.
"It's kind of a tongue-in-cheek campaign," Daigle said Wednesday. "We were talking about hurricane preparedness and someone bemoaned that we kept putting out the same messages."
While metrics for the post are not yet available, Daigle said it has become the most popular CDC blog entry in just two days.
"People are so tuned into zombies," he said. "People are really dialed in on zombies. The idea is we're reaching an audience or a segment we'd never reach with typical messages."

Click to read the posting at CDC.gov.

Comments

  • kingblaze84
    kingblaze84 Members Posts: 14,288 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2011
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] rubbed off from friction Posts: 0 ✭✭✭
    edited May 2011
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • Fazeem_Blackall
    Fazeem_Blackall Members Posts: 4,216 ✭✭
    edited May 2011
    ? lol
    Naw the article was in many different mediums looks like we are covering all bases before some ? pops off to me...
  • T. Sanford
    T. Sanford Guests, Members, Writer, Content Producer Posts: 25,291 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2011
    As long as them niccas dont f*ck with my fam or my money, then its kool because I'll been done knock one of them muthaf*ckas out with that droolin shss
  • Fazeem_Blackall
    Fazeem_Blackall Members Posts: 4,216 ✭✭
    edited May 2011
    I still say we are covering bases for some type of rage virus ? ...
  • samkaveli
    samkaveli Members Posts: 572
    edited May 2011
    First the world was suppose to end now this damn resident evil coming true ? better stack up on green herbs and ammo ? bout to get real.
  •   Colin$mackabi$h
    Colin$mackabi$h Members Posts: 16,586 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2011
    lol here we go again....well at least im a good runner i can stay on my toes
  • Seansosa
    Seansosa Members Posts: 1,430 ✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2011
    man as the world turns
  • alvarez_313
    alvarez_313 Members Posts: 1,322 ✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2011
    the social lounge has officially jumped the shark
  • Mally_G
    Mally_G Members Posts: 2,927 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2011
    In other words, the World Government has discovered a new way of implementing Agenda 21
  • young law
    young law Members Posts: 4,537 ✭✭✭
    edited May 2011
    the social lounge has officially jumped the shark

    lol,
    you sayin that Agent K reads the Social Lounge threads to see whats goin on in the galaxy ???
  • Fazeem_Blackall
    Fazeem_Blackall Members Posts: 4,216 ✭✭
    edited May 2011
    Jungle Community Infected With Real Life “Rage” Virus

    Apparently some diseases are culture-bound syndromes. Personally, that makes me question the common perception of disease.
    Diseases are not just biological matters as Dr. Phil Dennis, an anthropologist at Texas Tech University put it, “but are a complex interweaving of various aspects of being human.”
    Anorexia nervosa, for example, is a culture-bound syndrome. It is known only in the affluent West,
    No one in the third world has anorexia, nor are they allergic to milk, red dye number 9, or peanuts.
    Well the Miskito people who live in the jungle of northern Nicaragua have their own culture-bound syndrome, it’s called “grisi siknis” or “jungle madness.”
    And for the record it ain’t ? like Anorexia.
    Right now there are no less than 60 people suffering from the most recent outbreak of Jungle Madness.
    So far there has been one fatality.
    In all cases, the victims have the exact same symptoms: long periods of falling into a coma-like unconsciousness only to wake up in a homicidal berserker rage trying to ? anything that you can, until you fall back into the comatose state again.
    During the “frenzied” attacks, the victims run around with their eyes closed. They scurry around looking for anything they can use as a weapon and they try to defend themselves with all of their might against invisible attackers.
    According to local news reports, they have extraordinary strength and often times it may take up to four people to restrain them.
    Whoa.
    Predictably Community leaders in the Raiti community where this outbreak first started, say that this is the result of a curse not a virus.
    Well they have this much going for them, apparently when the infected are given anti-convulsive drugs or anti-depressants there is no improvement, but if they are given traditional remedies from local healers, they start to show at least some improvement.
    So does that mean that this is all ? ? Hell no. It means that whatever that frog spit, spider venom, and rat tail concoction Papa Shango is using to help these people, we need to get it to our people at Pfizer so we can recreate it in pill form. I don’t know about you but I figure to be about 4,000 miles away from the nearest witch doctor.
    The last major outbreak of grisi siknis began in 1910 and overwhelmed dozens of Miskito communities throughout the region for the next 20 years.
    Some 25,000 people live in the Miskito communities on the banks or the Coco River. Sounds like they’re ? to me.
    According to Professor Phil Dennis, who spent two years studying the phenomenon in the late 1970s he personally witnessed four “grisi siknis” attacks during his research and said that the victims were “clearly in another state of reality.”
    Whoa.
    And as predictable as the jungle elder leaders were in the calling this a curse as opposed to a disease, the west has dismissed “grisi siknis” as “collective madness” or “mass hysteria” because as a rule, no one in the west believes any ? damn thing they say in developing countries unless they see it for themselves.
    And even then, when they do see it for themselves, they face career suicide if they take the side of butt naked, bone through the nose natives over the skeptical and outright dismissive western educated know-it-alls.
    A team of doctors, psychiatrists, and anthropologists have been sent into the area by the Nicaraguan Government to see if they can do anything to contain the “rage” type outbreak.
    According to Professor Dennis , grisi siknis is a “culture-bound syndrome” unique to the Miskito like Anorexia nervosa is unique to us.
    “Grisi siknis is a very serious health problem for Miskito people,” Dennis said.
    Once again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank ? for allowing me the opportunity to live in the developed world.
    I guess it’s true the rich do get richer. Not only do we have every modern convenience known to man, but evidently when we were drawing straws for “culture bound syndromes” the Miskito got the “rage,” and we got skinny chicks.
    Source: Jungle madness poses health mystery, theage.com, December 18, 2003
  • soul rattler
    soul rattler Members Posts: 18,852 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited May 2011
    ^^^^
    Won't believe that until I see photographic evidence. Anyway, I'm comfortable knowing that there are enough sane people that will beat the ? out of whoever tries testing out some type of "rage chemical". There is no need for zombies so why create them?
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] rubbed off from friction Posts: 0 ✭✭✭
    edited May 2011
    The user and all related content has been deleted.
  • Fazeem_Blackall
    Fazeem_Blackall Members Posts: 4,216 ✭✭
    edited June 2011
    Zombie-proof house is a modern fortress


    Concrete dwelling with movable walls and a drawbridge probably would protect against tornadoes and hurricanes, too.


    Posted by Teresa at MSN Real Estate on Thursday, June 2, 2011 11:11 AM

    00210065-0000-0000-0000-000000000000_00000065-06d1-0000-0000-000000000000_20110603172555_0602_RE_zombiehouse_280_PR.jpgWe've written about why you're unlikely to get a tornado-proof house. But you can get a house that protects you against another scary peril: zombies.



    That's right. An architect in Poland designed and built a zombie-proof house.
    • Homeowner disaster-prep guide: 8 major crises and how to be ready
    We hadn't realized anyone was actually looking for a zombie-proof house, though Mai Ling did write previously about a zombie-proof safe room.

    Perhaps interest in protection from zombies has risen since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last month warned Americans to prepare for a zombie apocalypse.

    Depending on exactly how it's constructed, it looks as though the zombie-proof house would provide excellent protection against hurricanes and tornadoes. If you like modern architecture, it's very attractive, with walls of windows — you close those with movable walls if there is a chance of zombies — and an open floor plan.

    The 6,100-square house is on the outskirts of Warsaw and was built between 2005 and 2009 for a client who wanted the ultimate in security. You can see floor plans and read some of the specs at architect Robert Konieczny's website. Click on "Safe House." The pictures are larger and easier to see at All That Is Interesting.



    We're not sure who decided that "Safe" was also "zombie-proof," but we're willing to wager the owners will never succumb to zombie attack. We also couldn't find any information about the cost to build the home.
    • Big bucks can make your home a high-tech fortress
    Despite living for years in a city where voodoo is routinely practiced and dead chickens are reportedly left on the courthouse steps as offerings to the Santeria gods for a good legal outcome, I had never given much thought to protection from zombies.

    So what makes a house zombie-proof? It appears that you want to avoid the zombies entirely because they may eat your brains or bite you and give you a virus. That's when a concrete house with a drawbridge comes in handy. Apparently zombies, unlike ghosts, cannot go through walls.
    • FEMA wants disaster victims to return aid
    While the house is likely to provide protection from myriad perils, some commenters at Digg weren't sure it would be 100% zombie-proof.
  • Fazeem_Blackall
    Fazeem_Blackall Members Posts: 4,216 ✭✭
    edited June 2011
    "Zombie Virus" Possible via Rabies-Flu Hybrid?

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/1001027-rabies-influenza-zombie-virus-science/
    June 3, 2011

    In the zombie flicks 28 Days Later and I Am Legend, an unstoppable viral plague sweeps across humanity, transforming people into mindless monsters with cannibalistic tendencies.
    Though dead humans can't come back to life, certain viruses can induce such aggressive, zombie-like behavior, scientists say in the new National Geographic Channel documentary The Truth Behind Zombies, premiering Saturday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society, which part-owns the National Geographic Channel.)
    For instance, rabies—a viral disease that infects the central nervous system—can drive people to be violently mad, according to Samita Andreansky, a virologist at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine in Florida who also appears in the documentary.
    Combine rabies with the ability of a flu virus to spread quickly through the air, and you might have the makings of a zombie apocalypse.
    Rabies Virus Mutation Possible?
    Unlike movie zombies, which become reanimated almost immediately after infection, the first signs a human has rabies—such as anxiety, confusion, hallucinations, and paralysis—don't typically appear for ten days to a year, as the virus incubates inside the body.
    Once rabies sets in, though, it's fatal within a week if left untreated.
    If the genetic code of the rabies virus experienced enough changes, or mutations, its incubation time could be reduced dramatically, scientists say.
    Many viruses have naturally high mutation rates and constantly change as a means of evading or bypassing the defenses of their hosts.
    There are various ways viral mutations can occur, for example through copying mistakes during gene replication or damage from ultraviolet light.
    (Related: "New, Fast-Evolving Rabies Virus Found—and Spreading.")
    "If a rabies virus can mutate fast enough, it could cause infection within an hour or a few hours. That's entirely plausible," Andreansky said.
    Airborne Rabies Would Create "Rage Virus"
    But for the rabies virus to trigger a zombie pandemic like in the movies, it would also have to be much more contagious.
    Humans typically catch rabies after being bitten by an infected animal, usually a dog—and the infection usually stops there.
    Thanks to pet vaccinations, people rarely contract rabies in the United States today, and even fewer people die from the disease. For example, in 2008 only two cases of human rabies infection were reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
    (See pictures of infectious animals in National Geographic magazine.)
    A faster mode of transmission would be through the air, which is how the influenza virus spreads.
    "All rabies has to do is go airborne, and you have the rage virus" like in 28 Days Later, Max Mogk, head of the Zombie Research Society, says in the documentary. The international nonprofit is devoted to "raising the level of zombie scholarship in the Arts and Sciences," according to their website.
    To be transmitted by air, rabies would have to "borrow" traits from another virus, such as influenza.
    Different forms, or strains, of the same virus can swap pieces of genetic code through processes called reassortment or recombination, said Elankumaran Subbiah, a virologist at Virginia Tech who was not involved in the documentary.
    But unrelated viruses simply do not hybridize in nature, Subbiah told National Geographic News.
    Likewise, it's scientifically unheard of for two radically different viruses such as rabies and influenza to borrow traits, he said.
    "They're too different. They cannot share genetic information. Viruses assemble only parts that belong to them, and they don't mix and match from different families."
    (Take a quiz on infectious diseases.)
    Engineered Zombie Virus Possible?
    It's theoretically possible—though extremely difficult—to create a hybrid rabies-influenza virus using modern genetic-engineering techniques, the University of Miami's Andreansky said.
    "Sure, I could imagine a scenario where you mix rabies with a flu virus to get airborne transmission, a measles virus to get personality changes, the encephalitis virus to cook your brain with fever"—and thus increase aggression even further—"and throw in the ebola virus to cause you to bleed from your guts. Combine all these things, and you'll [get] something like a zombie virus," she said.
    "But [nature] doesn't allow all of these things to happen at the same time. ... You'd most likely get a dead virus."
    "Zombie Virus" Possible via Rabies-Flu Hybrid?

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/1001027-rabies-influenza-zombie-virus-science/
    June 3, 2011

    In the zombie flicks 28 Days Later and I Am Legend, an unstoppable viral plague sweeps across humanity, transforming people into mindless monsters with cannibalistic tendencies.
    Though dead humans can't come back to life, certain viruses can induce such aggressive, zombie-like behavior, scientists say in the new National Geographic Channel documentary The Truth Behind Zombies, premiering Saturday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society, which part-owns the National Geographic Channel.)
    For instance, rabies—a viral disease that infects the central nervous system—can drive people to be violently mad, according to Samita Andreansky, a virologist at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine in Florida who also appears in the documentary.
    Combine rabies with the ability of a flu virus to spread quickly through the air, and you might have the makings of a zombie apocalypse.
    Rabies Virus Mutation Possible?
    Unlike movie zombies, which become reanimated almost immediately after infection, the first signs a human has rabies—such as anxiety, confusion, hallucinations, and paralysis—don't typically appear for ten days to a year, as the virus incubates inside the body.
    Once rabies sets in, though, it's fatal within a week if left untreated.
    If the genetic code of the rabies virus experienced enough changes, or mutations, its incubation time could be reduced dramatically, scientists say.
    Many viruses have naturally high mutation rates and constantly change as a means of evading or bypassing the defenses of their hosts.
    There are various ways viral mutations can occur, for example through copying mistakes during gene replication or damage from ultraviolet light.
    (Related: "New, Fast-Evolving Rabies Virus Found—and Spreading.")
    "If a rabies virus can mutate fast enough, it could cause infection within an hour or a few hours. That's entirely plausible," Andreansky said.
  • Fazeem_Blackall
    Fazeem_Blackall Members Posts: 4,216 ✭✭
    edited June 2011
    Airborne Rabies Would Create "Rage Virus"
    But for the rabies virus to trigger a zombie pandemic like in the movies, it would also have to be much more contagious.
    Humans typically catch rabies after being bitten by an infected animal, usually a dog—and the infection usually stops there.
    Thanks to pet vaccinations, people rarely contract rabies in the United States today, and even fewer people die from the disease. For example, in 2008 only two cases of human rabies infection were reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
    (See pictures of infectious animals in National Geographic magazine.)
    A faster mode of transmission would be through the air, which is how the influenza virus spreads.
    "All rabies has to do is go airborne, and you have the rage virus" like in 28 Days Later, Max Mogk, head of the Zombie Research Society, says in the documentary. The international nonprofit is devoted to "raising the level of zombie scholarship in the Arts and Sciences," according to their website.
    To be transmitted by air, rabies would have to "borrow" traits from another virus, such as influenza.
    Different forms, or strains, of the same virus can swap pieces of genetic code through processes called reassortment or recombination, said Elankumaran Subbiah, a virologist at Virginia Tech who was not involved in the documentary.
    But unrelated viruses simply do not hybridize in nature, Subbiah told National Geographic News.
    Likewise, it's scientifically unheard of for two radically different viruses such as rabies and influenza to borrow traits, he said.
    "They're too different. They cannot share genetic information. Viruses assemble only parts that belong to them, and they don't mix and match from different families."
    (Take a quiz on infectious diseases.)
    Engineered Zombie Virus Possible?
    It's theoretically possible—though extremely difficult—to create a hybrid rabies-influenza virus using modern genetic-engineering techniques, the University of Miami's Andreansky said.
    "Sure, I could imagine a scenario where you mix rabies with a flu virus to get airborne transmission, a measles virus to get personality changes, the encephalitis virus to cook your brain with fever"—and thus increase aggression even further—"and throw in the ebola virus to cause you to bleed from your guts. Combine all these things, and you'll [get] something like a zombie virus," she said.
    "But [nature] doesn't allow all of these things to happen at the same time. ... You'd most likely get a dead virus."
    "Zombie Virus" Possible via Rabies-Flu Hybrid?

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/10/1001027-rabies-influenza-zombie-virus-science/
    June 3, 2011

    In the zombie flicks 28 Days Later and I Am Legend, an unstoppable viral plague sweeps across humanity, transforming people into mindless monsters with cannibalistic tendencies.
    Though dead humans can't come back to life, certain viruses can induce such aggressive, zombie-like behavior, scientists say in the new National Geographic Channel documentary The Truth Behind Zombies, premiering Saturday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. (National Geographic News is part of the National Geographic Society, which part-owns the National Geographic Channel.)
    For instance, rabies—a viral disease that infects the central nervous system—can drive people to be violently mad, according to Samita Andreansky, a virologist at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine in Florida who also appears in the documentary.
    Combine rabies with the ability of a flu virus to spread quickly through the air, and you might have the makings of a zombie apocalypse.
    Rabies Virus Mutation Possible?
    Unlike movie zombies, which become reanimated almost immediately after infection, the first signs a human has rabies—such as anxiety, confusion, hallucinations, and paralysis—don't typically appear for ten days to a year, as the virus incubates inside the body.
    Once rabies sets in, though, it's fatal within a week if left untreated.
    If the genetic code of the rabies virus experienced enough changes, or mutations, its incubation time could be reduced dramatically, scientists say.
    Many viruses have naturally high mutation rates and constantly change as a means of evading or bypassing the defenses of their hosts.
    There are various ways viral mutations can occur, for example through copying mistakes during gene replication or damage from ultraviolet light.
    (Related: "New, Fast-Evolving Rabies Virus Found—and Spreading.")
    "If a rabies virus can mutate fast enough, it could cause infection within an hour or a few hours. That's entirely plausible," Andreansky said.
    Airborne Rabies Would Create "Rage Virus"
    But for the rabies virus to trigger a zombie pandemic like in the movies, it would also have to be much more contagious.
    Humans typically catch rabies after being bitten by an infected animal, usually a dog—and the infection usually stops there.
    Thanks to pet vaccinations, people rarely contract rabies in the United States today, and even fewer people die from the disease. For example, in 2008 only two cases of human rabies infection were reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
    (See pictures of infectious animals in National Geographic magazine.)
    A faster mode of transmission would be through the air, which is how the influenza virus spreads.
    "All rabies has to do is go airborne, and you have the rage virus" like in 28 Days Later, Max Mogk, head of the Zombie Research Society, says in the documentary. The international nonprofit is devoted to "raising the level of zombie scholarship in the Arts and Sciences," according to their website.
    To be transmitted by air, rabies would have to "borrow" traits from another virus, such as influenza.
    Different forms, or strains, of the same virus can swap pieces of genetic code through processes called reassortment or recombination, said Elankumaran Subbiah, a virologist at Virginia Tech who was not involved in the documentary.
    But unrelated viruses simply do not hybridize in nature, Subbiah told National Geographic News.
    Likewise, it's scientifically unheard of for two radically different viruses such as rabies and influenza to borrow traits, he said.
    "They're too different. They cannot share genetic information. Viruses assemble only parts that belong to them, and they don't mix and match from different families."
    (Take a quiz on infectious diseases.)
    Engineered Zombie Virus Possible?
    It's theoretically possible—though extremely difficult—to create a hybrid rabies-influenza virus using modern genetic-engineering techniques, the University of Miami's Andreansky said.
    "Sure, I could imagine a scenario where you mix rabies with a flu virus to get airborne transmission, a measles virus to get personality changes, the encephalitis virus to cook your brain with fever"—and thus increase aggression even further—"and throw in the ebola virus to cause you to bleed from your guts. Combine all these things, and you'll [get] something like a zombie virus," she said.
    "But [nature] doesn't allow all of these things to happen at the same time. ... You'd most likely get a dead virus."