Photo: David J Rodger
There’s no need to blink furiously and rub your eyes. It’s true. An official US government website had told its citizens how to prepare for a zombie apocalypse. It’s a sign-of-the-times and another clear indication of how the swelling fascination with the Walking (or in my case sprinting and screaming) Dead have become so zeitgeist.
It’s certainly a canny and deft move by the assistant surgeon general, Ali Khan, to capture the public imagination in regards to the serious subject of planning for any “apocalyptic” event – such as major floods, earthquake, terrorist strike using WMD or… perhaps, the release of a bio-engineered retro-virus that destroys the personality centres of the brain and recodes genes to produce a violent pathological rage.
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Preparedness 101
KHAN: There are all kinds of emergencies out there that we can prepare for. 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.
This isn’t about selecting the best weapon for taking down your mother-in-law who suddenly wants to chew your face off rather than just bitch at you. It’s about serious and practical steps for dealing with any major emergency.
KHAN: You should sit down with your family and come up with an emergency plan. This includes where you would go and who you would call if zombies started appearing outside your doorstep.
Plan your evacuation route. When zombies are hungry they won’t stop until they get food (ie brains), which means you need to get out of town fast! Plan where you would go and multiple routes you would take ahead of time so that the flesh eaters don’t have a chance!
Case Study: RASPiX
This is from an undisclosed source regarding a report into an incident that occured this year. It has nothing to do with the US Government.
- The medical community refer to the Pathogen as RASPIx: Rapid and Selective Prion Infection. The X refers to the unknown component that leads to a perpetual state of animation.
- The initial identification of prions has been challenged; but the terminology still holds as a valid concept for study. If they’re not actually prions, then they’re very similar.
- There are two formally recognised phases of the Infection. PHASE I occurs after onset and is defined by the heart still beating, prion-release and destruction of the frontal-lobe and higher brain functions. PHASE II is defined by total organ failure and jellification of blood into a mutated substance.
- RASPIx is not a virus, as many media commentators have erroneously stated. It is a bacterial infection containing viral components, and prion-like material.
- Vaccine trials have consistently failed. The bacteria produces an exotoxin which destroys the antibody response. Attempts to use a live attenuated vaccine have also failed as the bacteria is able to repair any alterations to its DNA (source code).
- Furthermore, the early – and rushed- vaccine trials were a disaster because as the live vaccine morphed back into shape, as all DNA damage was repaired, it resulted in trial-subjects (people) being Infected by the vaccine itself.
- The prion-like proteins are delivered within the bacterial payload – these unpack upon successful invasion of the host and begin a highly accelerated Protein Misfolding Cyclic Amplification (PMCA) reaction. They’re able to exploit existing protein channels to cross the blood-brain-barrier. They specifically target the brain’s frontal lobe and other areas associated with higher-brain function: this is not normal prion behaviour. Within hours, there are spongiform changes to these parts of the brain.
- There is slight widening of the sulci (gaps between the complex convoluted folds of grey and white matter) but otherwise the humanoid brain has what appears to be healthy neural tissue. Except where the “prions” have been at work.
- Within twenty to sixty hours after spongiform changes have occurred in the targeted areas of the brain, increased adrenaline levels and surging heart-rate cause the neuronal vasculature (vessels that bring blood to the brain) to burst from prolonged pressure. This is consistent with the targeted areas of the brain displaying immune response, as if fighting off the infection; this immune response is yet another unusual characteristic of the “prions” involved here. The result is physical destruction of the parts of the brain associated with what is means to be human.
- Most parts of the brain remain preserved and functional (such as the thalamus, hypothalamus, cerebellum, brain stem and occipital lobes to mention only a few) even after entering Phase II, marked by total organ failure, baffling the whole medical and scientific community.
- RASPIx is certainly engineered. Several contagions share the same infection vector and demonstrate a symbiotic partnership – co-operating to achieve what they’ve been programmed to do: including jellification of the blood and developing a membrane around cells to protect against other Earth-based infections and necrosis of damaged tissue.
- Neisseria meningitidis has been identified as a foundational component with blood coagulation toxins and secreted prion-like proteins as innate function of the infection; but this has been modified to deliver something else. Front-field researchers believe this could be the elusive x.
A worrying glimpse into one of the potential threats facing Humankind? Maybe. Just maybe.
- Djr -
