A few years back, I'd have laughed at you if you told me there'd be a real zombie apocalypse... After watching a few seasons of The Walking Dead, I'm a believer!
Now a scientist thinks she may have even found what will cause the outbreak...
In a new report, evolutionary biologist Athena Aktipis from Arizona State University says:
One parasite in particular could lead to a potential “zombie” apocalypse in human beings. A single-celled parasite called toxoplasma actually already infects around 40 million Americans-a-year, according to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Other studies have found that this parasite actually impacts human behaviour.
Ms. Aktipis said: “[The parasite] somehow evolved to make a rat get turned on by the smell of cat urine, so it goes up to a cat and snuggles with it, and then it gets eaten which completes the life cycle of the toxoplasma – if that’s not zombification then what is?”
You can get infected with this parasite just from eating undercooked meat or cleaning out a cat’s litter box... I always knew cats were evil and would cause something like this!