ophiocordyceps unilateralis

I think ophiocordyceps unilateralis is the most canon way for a zombie apocalypse to work. Being that this does exist irl. I would much prefer that for the zombie apocalypse than some pathogen made in a lab somewhere. But the concept is a little dangerous considering it is a type of fungus, and as shown on last of us is able to produce spores which drift in the air. It is unclear if they would either infect you or kill you due to asphyxiation. But an airborn infection could possibly wipe out at least 80% of the population within 72 hours of induction. Also due to the parasitic fungus migrating to the host's cranial area after a while it would harden and make things harder for a clean head shot. Nonetheless i think its a pretty good idea. How do you guys feel about this? Does it scare you knowing that a zombie apocalypse is out there. Given that all it takes is a mutation of sorts for it to affect humans. Right now it only attacks insects which are the largest groups on earth. But we are the second largest. Something to think about.

I think there's a misconception. All the fungus does is move its host to the optimal spot to grow in and then proceeds to bust out of the body effectively killing it. The body doesn't move afterwards like an actual zombie would so if you aren't in range of the spore burst you will be fine.

I don't like to think about zombie apocalypses as just the thought freaks me out. So yes, scary stuff to me as I know I'd probably die during one.

@audio that may be true for the strand that affects insects. As the fungus mutates to accommodate infection of the human host. It may have an adverse effect similar to a zombie outbreak. I will use "the girl with all the gifts" as an example where the infected all gather near a location that has optimal height and then proceeds to sprout from the host into seed pods. The main goal of any zombie outbreak is to "spread" whatever pathogen is causing it. Thus starting from contact to contact and then moving to airborn. It is very well possible that if the fungus took over a human the effects would be different. As our bodies are different

Frankly, humans are too soread out for there to be an inherent risk of even a fungus sporeading to 80% if the population. Simply put, even the wind could not carry enough spores to effectively spread it. On top of that, it just takes time and material for anything to grow, and a few days is an extremely short time frame for mushrooms to grow big enough to kill people like that. And finally the range of temperatures we live in would make it impossible. There are probably are not any fungi capable in living in all climates, especially the cold. Any zombie will freeze like anything else. So just move to Canada and you'll be fine.

Lmfao canada XD Also as far as temperatures and travel goes. Its simple if the fungus is able to survive inside a human body any outside elements such as "heat, cold, humidity, dry heat" wont matter because it is INSIDE your body. Your body tries to maintain a suitable temperature for you to survive. In which case if it is affected it will just make you go somewhere suitable. Same goes for travel it can stay in its main location until someone comes in contact with it. For example here is a map of the zombie deer infected areas https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/bxoXPkWhpwqlUVjOyNriExrNsC4=/0x0:1514x976/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1514x976):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/14039108/Screen_Shot_2019_02_20_at_10.26.03_AM.png As you can see its pretty spread out. Before the host can see any noticeable effects they could go from here to there which would further make the spread possible. Once the issue becomes widespread it would take a while for countries to shut down borders to prevent further contamination. Before news gets out to the rest of the world those directly affected by it would try to flee thus maybe getting it out to areas before they shut off travel. When i say it would wipe out everyone within 72 hours im talking about an outbreak not a simple infection. Obviously if it is caught early on and contained then there really is no way it could wipe out an entire population. Hypothetically speaking this is from a max spread scenario meaning it is able to adapt and spread sort of like influenza

I do agree that it might have the potential to spread quickly, especially in cities. Urban areas could be decimated pretty darn quickly. But a couple of other things: (I've been listening to a ton about chronic wasting disease because it's hit Wisconsin the hardest, and I get their radio) But basically, That map looks bad, but that is a few years of spread, and most of the infected deer are in that patch in Wisconsin. Beyond that, it has about a year and a half gestation period from infection to the first signs (which by the btw zombie deer disease is kind of a weird thing to call it because it just kinda shuts down their brain and makes them keel over?) which has helped the disease, because it's hard to ID infected wild deer to quarantine them. Assuming that cordyceps have a fast infection rate (unlikely, but I'll get to later), quarantine would actually be easier because you could see if someone was infected quickly, and wouldn't let seemingly healthy people out to infect other people. Now for the infection rate, a fungus growing to take over an ant has a much easier time than it growing to take over a human, if for no other reason than the size of us. Cordyceps growing at the same rate as it does in an ant would take significantly longer to get to critical mass just due to our sheer size. As for the Canada bit, if it's a fast infect, then people wouldn't be in their right minds enough to survive in the cold, and you would end up with quite a lot of stiffs with dead fungus in them. The final thing is the way brain-controlling parasites generally work is by generating fairly simple commands in the brain. There's a parasite that goes from insect to fish by making the insect very thirsty, so it goes to the water and gets eaten by fish, so the parasite can move to the new host. Or one that moves from mice to birds of prey, and accomplishes this by turning off the fear responses in the mouse, so it goes out in the open and gets eaten by a bird. For ants, it commands them to get high and bite into whatever they're on. This lets the cordycepts grow and spread spores from the husk of the ant. What I'm trying to get at is that while it might be technically possible, the methods fungi have to propagate itself don't particularly lend themselves to zombies as we know them, nor do I think it would be terribly difficult to quarantine. If it was to exist, it would have to be some insanely fast growing fungus, and be something that doesn't just originate at one point. Which if those requirements are met, it basically turns into the generic Zombie Virus, right? and we're all screwed then.

I agree that it would take quite a while to take over a human since we are much bigger than ants so therefore more space to cover. Which is precisely why it would be hard to contain if not caught early. Assuming this fungus grows in an area densely populated with people, if it were to infect dozens of people before symptoms could take effect. Also outside factors such as people refusing to go to the doctor for minor issues could cause it to escalate to the point where its already too late to treat. The fungus doesnt necessarily need cause people to go around biting people in order to infect. But simply do the same thing as the parasites where it makes someone extremely hungry. The hunger can be derived from the fungus trying to gather enough nutrients to help its growth and thus leading to the stage where it looks to "reproduce" and turn into a spore producing product. This hunger can make people more aggressive and as time progresses it sensory functions heighten. Now that would be worst case scenario obviously. I doubt a the fungus would go THAT far. I just believe the idea is canon and its possible. Sure there are the parasites but then comes the issue of how would a parasite migrate hosts and reproduce? Its not like other humans are eating other humans. Again in a perfect world for the fungus if it were to move this route then it would obviously do some damage. If it was standard like the ants then it probably wouldnt get anywhere as we would find a way to get rid of it. Some video games and movies touch base on the concept and reveal how it could work. Granted very fictional but the possibility is there if this new strand of fungus mutated itself in a way where we wouldnt be able to get rid of it in time. Exactly in the way the flu works.

Ah, I think I see our disconnect. The thing about fungus is it can't spread like a virus. A virus is self contained and can reproduce itself. A fungus needs to generate the structure to spread its spores to reproduce. You can just stick a mushroom stem on something and expect it to grow. By the time someone is infectious, they would have to have some kind of visible fungal structure, which would make diagnosis pretty easy. Another thing, not terribly important, but canon just means true to a story, and I don't think you're talking about some specific piece of media? Again, not important, I know what you're talking about. I'm a recovering grammar nazi