The Z-Virus
I’m currently writing a zombie horror book meant to follow a scientists journey through the apocalypse, and the journal entries she logs throughout it. How’s this excerpt? Keep in mind this is simply a draft.
My name is Doctor Charlotte Roslyn Parks, and I work at the CDC as a scientist. The last few months, I’ve been studying an endemic virus I’ve nicknamed ‘Z-Virus’. Its scientific name is ‘Prilosis Senilis’, and it’s caused by the virus Senilia. The symptoms are like nothing I’ve ever seemed before, and developing a proper treatment plan for it has proved difficult on account of its constant mutations. Transmission of the virus is through bodily fluids, primarily saliva through a bite wound.
Incubation seems to take place over the course of fourteen to thirty days, and once the virus reaches the Central Nervous System symptom onset is rapid. It behaves similarly to Rabies Lyssavirus, in the sense that it hijacks the vagus nerve and other autonomic nerves to travel to the spine and brain. It also seems to cause encephalitis, however not as fast.
A distinct difference between Prilosis Senilis and Rabies Lyssavirus is that Prilosis Senilis seems to cause blood clotting in the brain, as autopsy reports show patients of this virus seem to die of stroke before the encephalitis becomes severe enough to lead them to their grave.
Now as I mentioned earlier, this virus is endemic. The only reported cases of it have been in villages in Argentina, where I am currently located. We have not found the initial carrier, or where the virus originated from, however we suspect that it is zoonotic in origin and comes originally from local rodent populations. My standing theory is that the rodents are picking the virus up from some kind of food source. What the source is so far is unknown to me.
Behavior in infected patients is strange. We have noted aggression in individuals who are usually docile, a decrease in their ability to communicate, and patients also have been reported to try and eat anything they can chew on, including other humans.
Now vaccine trials are occurring, however even in our best attempts to create something that can prepare the body to fight the virus anything we have tried to make seems to only speed up the symptom onset. As mentioned earlier, there has also been so many mutations of this virus that as soon as we get close to finding a vaccine, it just seems to mutate again.
I have suggested the Milwaukee Protocol, however my colleagues believe that this method is outdated and too expensive. Which it might be for Rabies Lyssavirus, however this virus is seemingly more aggressive and therefore requires an aggressive treatment.
Thank you for listening to my ramblings on my findings, and I will continue to update as I learn more.