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In this answer it is pointed out that everyone appears to be infected with the virus. As we saw in the CDC center, death triggers the virus to reactivate portions of the brain. Yet even a single bite from a Walker results in fever, eventual death (within days), and then reanimation. If the Walkers are infected with the same virus that is already latent in the survivors, why do bites seems 100% fatal? |
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There's several possible reasons. Firstly, human mouths are dirty. A bite from a normal human is likely to become infected in many cases even today, when we have over-the-counter disinfectants, bandages, etc on hand in almost all locations. Left untreated, this alone could be fatal. This is unlikely today, in modern society, but not nearly as unlikely if society has broken down and medical treatment is unavailable. This is discussed to some degree in The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks, which is based (as is TWD) on Romero-style zombies. Next there's the reanimation. The virus is dormant, as you say, until death. If the zombie has any form of saliva (which they seem to) or moisture in their mouth (without which verbalizing would be nearly impossible) their bites will almost certainly introduce the live, active virus into the bitten person's bloodstream. There's a HUGE difference between a dormant virus and an active one. The active virus seems to cause fever, death, and reanimation. The dormant virus activates upon death, causing reanimation. It's also possible that the dormant virus activates upon contact with an active sample of the virus, which would help account for the rapid onset of symptoms. In either case, amputation could potentially save the life of someone bitten upon a limb - if the active virus doesn't have time to make it to the heart, it can't propagate (either normally or by activating the dormant virus) throughout the rest of the body. |
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I don't agree with Jeff. There is a difference between a virus in a latent cycle and an active one, but not to the extent or manner Jeff describes; at least in not in regard to immunity. I'm of the opinion that the Survivors aren't immune to the virus, meaning they are not immune in the sense that the virus still replicates inside them to some extent. From the show we know that virus causes a deadly fever following which the corpse is re-animated. Death of the host seems to be necessary for the virus to create a 'walker'. It seems more like the survivors are "immune tolerant" of the infection. Meaning, they are infected and the virus replicates inside them at some level, however their immune systems tolerate this infection as opposed to inducing the deadly fever in an attempt to squash replication. In this way, they could seem immune when really they are just not suffering from the deadly fever which is the necessary precursor to becoming a walker. It is fairly common for the viral infection itself to not be the cause of disease. In the real world, Ebola, Dengue, and West Nile all cause disease indirectly by stimulating an over-reaction of the immune system. Indeed, many potential treatments for these diseases include immune suppressants to lessen the severity of the patients reaction in addition to direct antivirals. |
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A fever starts when the body is trying to heal itself/ fight an infection or unknown bacteria/virus of some sort.. When the body is focusing on getting rid of this, it goes into a hard working process. After a while you'll get a fever - as a symptom that the body is battling against the unwanted "guest". |
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A reason could be like a Komodo dragon with bacteria in the teeth if someone bit you with rotting flesh in there teeth you would probably get extremely sick and die as well. |
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