Photo credit: Outbreak Film – 1995

There are many shows/movie, in today’s day, that emphasize survival during outbreaks. There is a plethora of movies that show this like Outbreak, Contagion, The Walking Dead, and Quarantine. The entertainment industry has romanticized outbreaks, in their many forms, but is any of it legitimate?

Outbreaks are a popular fear among individuals, but is this fear validated. In the Washington Post article, Five myths about outbreaks, we learn five myths that debunk the idea of the popular franchise of outbreaks.

The myths are as follows:

1. A pandemic on the scale of Spanish flu is unlikely today FALSE
2. Most adults don’t need the annual seasonal flu vaccine FALSE
3. Some of the deadliest pathogens don’t pose an imminent threat FALSE
4. We need bigger vaccine stockpiles to halt outbreaks FALSE
5. Closing our borders will keep the nastiest bugs out FALSE

While we may be closer to a zombie outbreak than we think, some individuals have taken a look at what may start said outbreak. YouGov.us reports the following results of a poll, in their article The Zombie Apocalypse, of what will most likely cause a zombie outbreak.

“As for why there would be a zombie apocalypse in the first place, it’s a close choice between “A scientific experiment gone awry that turns humans into zombie-like creatures” (19%) and “The spread of a parasite that turns its victims into zombie-like creatures” (17%). Least popular reasons: “A toxic chemical spills into the ground and causes the dead to rise” (8%), “There is no room in hell, so the dead have to roam the Earth” (4%), and “The dead have nothing better to do than rise and attack” (3%).”