As the entire world is now battling the coronavirus pandemic, a team of researchers has now warned that zombie outbreak, very similar to the depictions in Hollywood movies is in fact possible in the future.
According to experts, chaotic events like zombie outbreaks are not confined to movies, as the evolution of a certain parasite or virus could make it happen in real life.
Rats Turned Zombies
A few months back, Athena Aktipis, an evolutionary biologist at Arizona University had claimed that more than half the species in the earth are parasites. While talking in her podcast Zombified, Aktipis largely talked about Toxoplasma, a single-celled parasite that could affect human behavior. A study conducted by researchers at the University of California has suggested that the Toxoplasma parasite is much dangerous and more powerful than previously thought.
"The idea that this parasite knows more about our brains than we do, and has the ability to exert desired change in complicated rodent behavior, is absolutely fascinating. Toxoplasma has done a phenomenal job of figuring out mammalian brains in order to enhance its transmission through a complicated life cycle," Wendy Ingham, a researcher who was a part of this study said, Express.co.uk reports.
Zombie Virus to Wreak Havoc
Several medical experts believe that viruses like Toxoplasma are capable of turning humans into zombies if they get mutated to deadly forms. Ben Neuman, a professor of virology at the University of Reading believes that viruses like Rabies could evolve one day, and will finally conquer humanity.
"There are parasites out there that get close to making actual walking around zombies. But the real weirdoes locked up in Mother Nature's basement are the viruses. There are more viruses out there than we will probably ever discover and I bet that somewhere out there in nature something like this is happening. If you look at rabies, it completely changes the way a dog behaves. It's transmitted by bites, it leads to madness, convulsions, and so it's not really that far-fetched," Neuman told Yahoo.
Can Humans Fight a Zombie Apocalypse?
A few weeks back, Clare Sammells, an anthropologist at Bucknell University had suggested that dealing with a zombie apocalypse is much easier than containing coronavirus pandemic. Sammells believe that combating a zombie apocalypse could be easier, as authorities will know who is infected with the pathogen.
