We all know that a zombie bite leads to a zombie infection, but what about the other ways of getting infected.


Take a look at rabies. When I worked as a vet tech I learned that even if you had a torn cuticle and were exposed to the animal's saliva or blood you had to go in for the full rabies treament.

"Rabies is transmitted only when the virus is introduced into a bite wound, open cuts in skin, or onto mucous membranes (such as the mouth or eyes)." --www.cdc.gov, rabies

"The virus is usually present in the nerves and saliva of a symptomatic rabid animal. The route of infection is usually, but not necessarily, by a bite. In many cases the infected animal is exceptionally aggressive, may attack without provocation, and exhibits otherwise uncharacteristic behaviour. Transmission may also occur via an aerosol through mucous membranes; transmission in this form may have happened in people exploring caves populated by rabid bats." --wiki, rabies

Now, for the sake of agurment lets assume that the zombie virus is spread the same way.

What happens when your average Joe has to kill his neighbor turned zombie?

It is unlikely (unless he subsrcibes to the ZSDW) that he is equiped to deal with the situation in an ideal manner.

Let's give Joe a home-field advantage and give him a shot gun since he likes the idea of home protection. Joe has seen enough horror movies to aim for the head as he puts the neighbor into his sights and pulls the trigger. Joe has now been splatted in little bits and flecks of zombie matter. Joe wipes his hand across his eyes and spits bits of debris off his lips. Joe wasn't much for manicures and has the habbit of chewing on his torn cuticles. Said cuticles are now covered in bloody gore. So without a single bite how many times was Joe possibly infected. Eyes, lips, and cuticles. Three sites for infection to set in. I would think that the infection would take longer to set in and maybe the slimest of chances that it doesn't set in at all. I think it would be a slow painful process as the body begins to die off and then reanimate.

Lets examine survivors in a secure location taking pot-shots at the zombies amassing outside the gates. Give them some time and soon there will be no more stragglers wandering about and it's time for the clean up to commence. Clean-up teams should worry about more than just body armour. They are heading into a huge bio-hazard mess. If it's wet and it's not yours, thats a hazard. E.Coli erupting from the gut wounds, Hepatitis ect ect. Are most people well versed with bio-hazard clean-up? How many of our survial lists include massive amounts of bleach, or haz-mat suits?

Also, don't forget rotting corpses wandering in the riverbeds and water ways. Better test that water before you take a long cool drink. Infected by drinking water with a zombie jucie twist?

Death by stupidity is not how I want to go. So how do we work around this kind of situation?

If the virus was spread airbourne, I'd say there would be a 0-2% rate of immunity, so considering that some zombies will kill and infect people we could find a cure out of the bout 50,000 people left.