Zombie Abstract

Zombies are revived humans that live on the flesh of other people. This scientific paper examines what would happen if these undead creatures, which represent an infectious disease in this context, attacked our planet. This is achieved by enhancing the basic model for infections (SIR). There are different ways of getting rid of the illness. First of all, there is the basic model (SZR) which explains how the transmission of the infection works. Secondly, the model with latent infection (SIZR) extends the basic model by assuming that there is a period of time between the point when a person gets infected and when the outbreak of the disease happens. Thirdly, the quarantine model includes the possibility of separating some infected people from the rest of the population to hinder them from infecting others. The model with treatment supposes that it is possible to find a cure against the infection. Finally, the impulsive eradication model assumes that it is possible to control the disease by attacking it strategically. Calculations reveal that all models would have more or less success stemming the spread of the disease but only the impulsive eradication model would be able to defeat the cause of the infection effectively enough so that people would not be completely eradicated.