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The Infected

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Heterochromic?
  No
  Mildly
  Drastically
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goobaloo

Newbie Noob

PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:14 am


Some of the issues that have plagued (haha) my friends and I is the biology of the infected and the virus.

1.) As the infected do not eat their victims or each other and are unable to prepare food, they die of starvation. However, they do not apparently suffer from dehydration. After even one day, their bodies should show signs of dehydration from exertion, daily acitivity, and excretion.

2.) Do they excrete waste material? As they do not continue to eat, do they continue to digest and excrete waste material already in the body? Do the kidneys and liver continue to filter virus clogged blood and create urine? Do they sweat to cool off?

3.) Do they breathe? As they are still alive, it should be assumed so, but shots have been so far away that any evidence of respiration is not visible and infected who have specifically died of asphyxiation or drowning have not been shown. Do they use aerobic or anarobic respiration?

4.) Do they sleep? A functional human requires sleep to refresh the mind and repair muscle damage, without it, hysteria and eventual death ensue, but it does not appear necessary in the infected. Does the virus negate this otherwise necessary function?

5.) Why don't they get tired? They often run very long distances to follow and catch up to prey, but they don't need to rest to breathe (?) or to repair muscle damage.

6.) How do they recognize themselves and others as infected vs. uninfected? As portrayed in 28 Weeks Later, they can obviously tell who among them is infected, but how? Do they use sight, smell, sound, taste, touch, or some other sense to tell? In a specific instance in 28 Weeks Later, a soldier guarding children leaves the compound through a door, after being infected he returns and proceeds to attack the children through a translucent, soundproof structure, probably using sight, but was it movement or visual recognition?

7.) Do they have memory? As using the reference above, the soldier returns to the room holding the children. Did he accidentally stumble into the same room, see them, and begin attacking? Sense them from a distance? Or somehow remember where they were?

8.) As seen in 28 Days Later, the 'Rage Virus' is obviously transferable from chimps to humans, but which, if any other animals, can be infected either accidentally or purposefully by blood borne contact?

9.) How long does the virus last after death of the infected? Rats and other scavenger animals were eating their remains with no outwardly visible symptoms and probably were not harboring the live virus.

10.) There are many different forms of heterochromia, the genetic predisposition to being a carrier, but there are many forms, several genetic and others acquired. Which genetic form is shown in the movie? and do any other kinds of heterochromia yield any other resistance?
*wiki article my assumption is Simple Heterochromia without visual impairment



*note: I should have posted this earlier: this is in reference to the "28 Days/Weeks Later" series. As they are not true zombies, but the movies are classified as such, a decent knowledge of their biology would prove handy in an outbreak of this magnitude.
PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:25 am


A possible issue of contention that my friend has raised that I do not recall in 28 Days Later, is he claims, that at one point one of the characters enters a church and the Infected are eating someone or each other. I do remember though that the 'experts' in the military complex said they would eventually die of starvation. I sought biological evidence in that as soon as they would attempt to eat someone, seconds later they would become another one of the infected, and they don't apparently eat each other.

goobaloo

Newbie Noob


goobaloo

Newbie Noob

PostPosted: Thu Jan 17, 2008 11:37 am


Answer for 6.)
Using the graphic novel, 28 Days Later: Aftermath, the question of detecting the infected is actually a heightened sense of smell. The Infected are lured to humans by detecting trace amounts of chemical products such as shampoo, soap, and perfume.
PostPosted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 12:59 pm


1).I don't know about this type of stuff on zombies.

2).No zombies do not sweat or have to excrete waste,any liquids go into their blood that just adds to it when they bite you(I think).I don't know if the Kidneys and liver filter stuff.

3)Yes zombies do breath but they cannot die by drowning,breathing must be a human function that they just can't get rid off.

4)Yes the virus does negate the need of sleep or rest.Mainly because of the lust for blood

5)Same answer as number 4

6)They use smell,sight,sound,taste and vibrations in the earth.

7)Some types of zombies keep their memory from their human life but only small bits of it.

cool Some animals can transfer and some can't,i can't remember which can and can't.

9)I think it stays with the victim for ever until they decompose,Rats and other things like that don't get the virus as i remember.

10)The one in 28 days/weeks later is passed by the zombies blood getting into you'r system,in most movies its passed by Bite.

Jason Kharo

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goobaloo

Newbie Noob

PostPosted: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:28 am


Quote:
2.) No, zombies do not sweat or have to excrete waste. Any liquids go into their blood that just adds to it when they bite you (I think). I don't know if the kidneys and liver filter stuff.

4.) Yes, the virus does negate the need of sleep or rest. Mainly because of the lust for blood.

5.) Same answer as number 4.

10.) The virus in 28 Days/Weeks later is passed by the zombie's bodily fluid getting into your system, in most movies its passed by bite.

Thank you for finally responding and intelligently answering my questions, however, these were the answers I had further questions on.

For #2, I suppose it might not apply to the Infected simply because they neither eat or drink, but if they were to be restrained and put on an IV drip somehow, would their body simply become flooded because they cannot remove the liquids?

In #s 4 and 5, I understand the principle, but the bodies should still suffer some physical damage associated with exertion and sleeplessness.

I suppose I didn't explain well enough my question for #10, I was wondering about the resistance to the virus, not about resistance to the physical movement of the virus.
PostPosted: Tue Jan 22, 2008 11:24 pm


All of these questions are answered in the book for which this guild was created. You should check it out. I got it off of Amazon for about $10 (USD) with World War Z for about $13 (USD).


Otherwise, I'll try to answer your questions without botching them too much.

Zombies do not require any nourishment from their victims, and the flesh found inside dissected zombies is never actually in any state of digestion aside from the eventual rotting of the non infected meat. The meat is often pushed through the body of the zombie as it consumes more and exits the body in relatively the same state in which it entered.

Zombies do not need food or even air. They can live (if you could call it that) under water for years, or until they eventually deteriorate completely. They do not breathe and the only recorded use of the lungs is in response to prey known to us as moaning or howling.

The zombie is essentially a reanimated corpse. The Virus known as Solanum (which is what creates the zombie) attacks the nervous system through the blood stream and settles in the brain where it shuts down all functions required for life but maintains the nervous system to allow movement.

Technically the creatures in the 28 series are not zombies because they are not dead and maintain the capability of dying. The body still functions and requires nourishment to sustain life. Regardless of the fact that they feed on human flesh, they are not zombies.

I would continue, but time is short. In closing, read the book. Your questions will be answered.

FWIW


goobaloo

Newbie Noob

PostPosted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 2:15 pm


FWIW
Technically the creatures in the 28 series are not zombies because they are not dead and maintain the capability of dying. The body still functions and requires nourishment to sustain life. Regardless of the fact that they feed on human flesh, they are not zombies.

I would continue, but time is short. In closing, read the book. Your questions will be answered.

Thank you for the response, I suppose I did not word my paragraph with the intent to solely discuss the biology of the "Rage Infected." The Zombie Survival Guide is an excellent read, possibly with the exception of the history, but sorry for being convoluted.
PostPosted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 1:18 pm


1.) They do not suffer from Dehydration because there is no blood flow in their veins. They do not get overheated, so that basically negates almost every use for water in the system.

2.) ((This answer is a bit graphic.)) Zombies do not digest, as every cell in their body is dead, ((Apart from the Virus)), and the enzymes that normally help digest food are dead as well. Therefore, everything eaten will sit in their stomach for as long as they exist. In some more extreme cases, a Zombie will continue to eat to the point the stomach can no longer contain any more, and the stomach will rupture, or
more gruesomely, the undigested food will burst out the a**s, and then continue eating. ((Sick image. I know.))


3.) Zombies do in fact breathe, but they do not require air to function. You can tell this because of the moans you would hear coming from them when they are in "Hunt Mode". If the Zombie found itself incapable of breathing, it would not stop functioning, as the Virus has found a way to negate all needs for air. ((It's been debated whether a Zombie is a more advanced form of Humans, as the Virus enhances all 5 senses to a near superhuman level, and negates the use of nearly all resources a Human needs to survive.)) To my knowledge, they use Aerobic Respiration.

4.) Zombies do not sleep. Neither do they repair muscle damage, suffer from hysteria, or even suffer from fatigue. A Zombie will keep coming at you until it's arms literally fall off from lack of muscle repair. ((This would be extremely rare, but it is possible.)) The virus, yet again, negates the need for a necessary human function.

5.) You've stumped me. I really don't have an answer for why, I just know that they don't get tired. Muscle damage was explained in number 4. Breathing was explained in 3. The only reason I can think they don't get tired, is because they do not feel anything. The only thing the Zombies feel is the primal instinct to feed.

6.) The dead rely on the senses of smell and hearing as their most dominant senses. This being said, the Virus ((Once fully taking over a Human body system)) releases a Pheremone that helps other Zombies distinguish the living from those infected. However, they can and will rely on other senses if the sense of smell fails. ((Nose/Ears could fall off.. They are decaying after all.))

7.) The dead do not have memories. Say, your mother was bitten, and she turns. She is no longer your mother, she's yet another undead, shambling corpse walking the post-apocalyptic Earth. She will not stop and think you are her offspring, she will not remember all the times you spent together, she will focus on one thing and one thing only. The need to feed.
That being said, 28 Days/Weeks Later, you have to remember, aren't real zombies. They are infected with the Rage Virus, and are more intent on inflicting harm than to feeding. ((Watch the scene with the mother of the children getting killed, it will become clear. The infected concentrates more on killing than feeding/infecting.))


8.) As said by Max Brooks, the undead do not feed on anything but Human flesh. That means that there will never be a Zombie Dog. Even if, say a Vulture, eats off an infected corpse, the Vulture will die, and remain dead. Undead tissue has a fatal Neurotoxin that will kill the brain if eaten, and not reanimate it.

9.) The virus takes about 20 hours to kill the individual infected, and about 4 hours to reanimate the corpse. The Virus will remain active as long as the brain isn't horribly damaged, and the Spinal Cord is attached to the Cerebellum. Again, reanimated animals are not possible.

10.) It is not known whether there is someone out there with resistance to the Virus. You have to remember, it is a Virus, and the medical technology of today has absolutely no way to kill a Virus, and even trying to create a Vaccine will result in the individual turning into a Zombie. ((Even the most minute amount of the Virus induced into the Human body will result in death, and reanimation.))

Hope I helped.
3nodding

I'd like to add some more information that wasn't asked in your post.

Zombies do not reproduce. They have no living reproductive cells. In the case of a pregnant woman becoming infected, upon death, the child will die, and remain dead, and remain in the mothers stomach, decomposing, even as she turns into a Zombie.

Zombies do not bleed. They have no heartbeat, thus they have no blood pressure. The only way a Zombie will bleed is if it got cut somewhere on the leg, as all the blood is weighed down by gravity and would escape through the wound.

Deodorized Phlegm


DepthOfAffliction

Timid Nerd

PostPosted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 2:43 pm


I am not as zombie smart as I used to be, so my responses would be very lame. I enjoyed reading everyone's responses and Deo has great amount of detail and logic. Good job! ^_^
PostPosted: Tue Jun 09, 2009 2:08 am


I was wondering about some of these questions myself. I could answer these questions if they were about zombies, but since you're talking about living Rage infected, I'll take a shot at some of these questions.
2.) The virus could slow down metabolism so they don't excrete as much wastes?
4.) Maybe the infected do not sleep as we do.
7.) They probably retain memory because in 28 Weeks later you have the dad stalking the two kids.
8.) The virus most likely infects humanoid animals. Chimps share a lot of the DNA that we do, this is why HIV spread over to humans.
9.)The virus probably lasts as long as the virus does in zombies. Until the carrier is burned. The Rage Virus probably didn't spread over to the rats because they are not as closely related to us as the chimps are.
It's a movie so it's hard to know for sure. Books tend to be more detailed, try the Morningstar saga, they have similar infected in those books.

cnidobyte

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