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World Health Organization is on high alert about new Ugandan outbreak. So... Zombies Are Now Real?
The article is here.
In the 1960's, a virus sprung about in Sudan, mainly affecting children. The Uganda infections, though, are a new outbreak -- a troubling sign. The jump into a new region could be pure coincidence, or it could indicate the disease has become more virulent or found a new transmissions vector. The disease offers a tragic, slow mental degradation, taking years to develop. Grace Lagat, a northern Uganda native, is mother of two children -- Pauline Oto and Thomas -- both of whom are victims of the disease. For their safety, when she leaves the house, she now ties them up, using fabric like handcuffs. She recalls, "When I am going to the garden, I tie them with cloth. If I don't tie them I come back and find that they have disappeared."
Reportedly the children gnaw at their fabric restraints, like a rabid animals -- or "zombies" of popular fiction -- in an attempt to escape. (This is based on CNN's commentary.) The effort to restrain the children is not unwarranted. In one of the most bizarre symptoms of this tragic illness, children with the disease are reportedly setting fire to buildings in their communities. Coupled with the aimless wandering this disease provokes in victims, this is a deadly combination. More than 200 people have been killed in fires believed to be set by the zombified children. (According to Jason Oh, there have been few reports of violent behavior. It is unclear where our primary source CNN received this information, though a reader suggested that a CDC report indicated that 10 to 15 percent of children were found to exhibit increased aggression. We were unable to locate this report.) While reports of violence or strange behavior -- like biting -- are disputed, the disease is very serious. It may seem like a foreign issue to regions like the U.S. and EU who are struggling with their own financial crisises. But if the illness finds a way to broaden its spread, this outbreak could cripple children across the globe.
Infected children typically have regular seizures, which are proceeded by a repetitive nodding of the head. This characteristic symptom has given rise to the unofficial title for the malady. Seizures often leave the children soiled with urine and drooling. Local nurses are afraid to touch the infected. States local nurse Elupe Petua, "I feel, because I don't know what causes it, I don't even know how it transmits, when I touch them I feel that I can also get the infection because I don't know what causes it." Anti-epileptic medication slows the onset of symptoms, but is unable to stop the progression of the disease. The seizures eventually leave many children unable to walk, only able to drag their bodies along the ground as flies tried to attack them.
In the 1960's, a virus sprung about in Sudan, mainly affecting children. The Uganda infections, though, are a new outbreak -- a troubling sign. The jump into a new region could be pure coincidence, or it could indicate the disease has become more virulent or found a new transmissions vector. The disease offers a tragic, slow mental degradation, taking years to develop. Grace Lagat, a northern Uganda native, is mother of two children -- Pauline Oto and Thomas -- both of whom are victims of the disease. For their safety, when she leaves the house, she now ties them up, using fabric like handcuffs. She recalls, "When I am going to the garden, I tie them with cloth. If I don't tie them I come back and find that they have disappeared."
Reportedly the children gnaw at their fabric restraints, like a rabid animals -- or "zombies" of popular fiction -- in an attempt to escape. (This is based on CNN's commentary.) The effort to restrain the children is not unwarranted. In one of the most bizarre symptoms of this tragic illness, children with the disease are reportedly setting fire to buildings in their communities. Coupled with the aimless wandering this disease provokes in victims, this is a deadly combination. More than 200 people have been killed in fires believed to be set by the zombified children. (According to Jason Oh, there have been few reports of violent behavior. It is unclear where our primary source CNN received this information, though a reader suggested that a CDC report indicated that 10 to 15 percent of children were found to exhibit increased aggression. We were unable to locate this report.) While reports of violence or strange behavior -- like biting -- are disputed, the disease is very serious. It may seem like a foreign issue to regions like the U.S. and EU who are struggling with their own financial crisises. But if the illness finds a way to broaden its spread, this outbreak could cripple children across the globe.
Infected children typically have regular seizures, which are proceeded by a repetitive nodding of the head. This characteristic symptom has given rise to the unofficial title for the malady. Seizures often leave the children soiled with urine and drooling. Local nurses are afraid to touch the infected. States local nurse Elupe Petua, "I feel, because I don't know what causes it, I don't even know how it transmits, when I touch them I feel that I can also get the infection because I don't know what causes it." Anti-epileptic medication slows the onset of symptoms, but is unable to stop the progression of the disease. The seizures eventually leave many children unable to walk, only able to drag their bodies along the ground as flies tried to attack them.
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Comments
Medicine is discovering that there are infectious organisms that can change our behaviour. It is said that the balance of bacteria in our belly is important for our emotional state!
Here are some other examples
http://www.viewzone.com/toxo.html
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/emerging-diseases/200903/infection-can-change-your-personality-theres-plenty-proof
Here is one on zombie ants:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fungus-makes-zombie-ants
/Victor
I'm sure that if there was some serious research into it there would be some means to treat this sickness. But I wouldn't be overly concerned about zombies unless the disease directly causes fatalities then those fatalities come back to life and start gnawing on someone.
>Over half of the world's human population is estimated to carry a Toxoplasma infection.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis
makes guys more aggressive and woman more promiscuous...
OMG.
@Zayl The zombies in the '24 Days Later' movies weren't dead either. There's a lot of examples of zombies that are not 'reanimated'.
But going back to those "Buddhist Ethics Regarding Zombies" threads. This is... not good news for that (I mean, if you had dreams of defending your castle with an AK-47 with hoards of zombies swamping the walls, I mean. Not that anyone thinks like that... :orange: ). At least they don't eat people...
ok, can someone start a thread on some cheerful news for a change? Please??
This is a fun Radiolab short on Toxoplasmosis:
http://www.radiolab.org/2009/sep/07/the-scratch/
Nobody appreciated my Dominique Strauss-Kahn joke. Oh well. :-/ Can't win 'em all.
But going back to the article, those kids must really be suffering a whole lot, seizures, soiling themselves, no medical care or attention or even interaction, confusion, has this kind of just sailed by everyone's brain here? This is quite a very dreadful situation and it needs to be addressed, not glorified because they appear to be like zombies from a movie IMO.
On looking on what research I have found, the main symptoms have very little to do with so called zombie like behaviour in the sense of violence, mainly seizures, drooling, starring, nodding etc. Often the kids get tied to trees whist their parents do things such as farming or manual labour of some kind.