What caused the Zombies in The Walking Dead? Origin of the outbreak, explored

The Walking Dead franchise has been the biggest storyline that has returned zombies or skinwalkers to the limelight of popular media. Based on the comic book series of the same name, the story focuses on a post-apocalyptic America, where a virus outbreak has led many people to become zombies.

The series stars a vast ensemble group of star-studded actors as survivors of this apocalypse. This cast of characters attempts to survive in the face of near-constant attacks from zombies known as "walkers." As modern civilization, as we know it, falls, these survivors meet other human survivors who have formed tribes and villages.

Notably, the Zombie outbreak in The Walking Dead universe was caused by transmitting a fictional air-borne virus named The Wildfire Virus. Initially, the director had chosen not to reveal the origins of the virus. Still, a spinoff show set in the same universe (The Walking Dead: The World Beyond) has finally decided to reveal the truth.

According to a post-credits scene in the same show, the Wildfire virus had originated in a French laboratory and soon began to spread across the world and turned into a global pandemic.

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What caused the Zombie outbreak in The Walking Dead?

The Primrose Team is believed to have created the Wildfire Virus in France at la Biomédicine DDMI. The Centre for Disease Control noticed the wildfire on April 16, 2010. On August 25, 2010, the CDC designated Wildfire a global pandemic. The Primrose Team went to a meeting in Toledo, Ohio, to help fight the virus.

On August 27, 2010, the virus reached cataclysmic levels when the standard mortality rate reanimated and attacked the living, causing the collapse of modern society. The United States Army Command launched Operation Cobalt to stop the spread of illness, protect populations in designated safe zones, and retake metropolitan areas.

Two weeks after the global breakout, military safe zones were overrun. Currently, the Civic Republic Military is attempting to bring the virus under control. These people have their system of laws and morality, which can occasionally lead to open violence. The story of The Walking Dead highlights how, with all the undead, inhumane monsters, the true monsters are the other human beings whose mask of civility erodes in the face of adversity.

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Is there a cure for the Walking Dead virus?

The Walking Dead virus has no known cure that has been relieved. Currently, radiotherapy is the primary therapeutic option for active infections. Radiation weakens the virus, freeing the immune system of the body's in combating it.

Additionally, a genetic element likely contributes to the survival of the people who are treated with radiation. However, this is currently unknown. Otherwise, medicines are ineffective in treating the infection.

Certain medications can help lengthen the lifespan but to a maximum period of 48 hours following exposure. Amputation, also known as removal of a limb is an alternate treatment that can work only if the said limb is infected.

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How does the Walking Dead virus work?

Wildfire spreads through airborne transmission, direct touch, or waterborne transmission. Wildfire is a viral latent infection in which the host becomes an asymptomatic carrier. It circulates throughout the blood before concentrating on the nervous system of the infected organism.

When an expired host is reanimated, its internal fluids contain the active ingredients of Wildfire, namely blood and saliva. Contaminating an open wound through bites or scratches can lead to active-agent infection. When the active substance enters the blood vessels of a healthy person, it spreads and invades the brain like meningitis, causing a cytokine storm.

The period from infestation to death varies based on the severity, location, and number of infected sites. Ultimately, infection leads to death in a healthy person within 48 hours of exposure.

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The eight seasons of The Walking Dead are available to stream on Netflix.