• Question: Martha did you find out what the name of the 'zombie virus' for ants and bees was called? Thank you

    Asked by 418utec47 to MarthaNari on 23 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Martha Havenith

      Martha Havenith answered on 23 Jun 2015:

      Hiya, this is the one I was thinking about:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps_unilateralis
      As I remember it, there are a few varieties. Some make the ants go back to their nest to infect everyone, some make them climb up trees. David Attenborough explained that in one of his documentaries… if only I remembered which one. :/
      There is another parasite though that basically infects the brain of host rats to make them tame. The reason is that this parasite only lays offspring inside cat intestines. Which means it needs for the rat to get eaten by a cat. Here goes the wikipedia description:
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasma_gondii

      Apparently that particular parasite can also cause mood swings in people.
      So yeah, grumpy zombies are coming! 🙂

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