What would be a realistic, competent response from the rest of the world if Britain were wiped out by a zombie virus?
I am referring to the situation described at the start of the movie 28 Weeks Later, where Britain had been wiped out by a zombie virus, but the rest of the world was (seemingly) fine.
What would be a realistic, competent response from the rest of the world to this described scenario? For example, when would the rest of the world decide to send in the first party of human beings? What would they do? How would they make sure the virus was contained? When, if ever, would civilians be reintroduced into Britain?
(In the movie itself, the rest of the world, or at least the US, implausibly decides that it is a good idea to try resettling Britain just 6 months after they think the last infected human being has died. They also have--in proportion to the risks involved--extremely poor security, quarantine systems, etc. Hence making for a horror movie.)
Edited to add more details (all based on the movies):
- Movies were in 2002 and 2007, so let's just say this situation is set in the present day.
Upon infection through saliva or blood (and possibly other bodily fluids), the infected person becomes a zombie within 10-20 seconds.
Zombies' main (only?) preoccupation is to go around hunting for other non-zombies to bite. It seems like their goal is just to infect other non-zombies, rather than to actually eat the flesh of other non-zombies.
For some reason, zombies don't bother attacking other zombies.
Zombies can't swim.
Zombies are stupid and will generally simply starve to death on their own.
Assume that the rest of the world has not suffered a single case of such infection, but the whole of Britain has been wiped out. (Say a few million Britons managed to stay uninfected and escape Britain.)
To keep things simple, assume that the virus can only be spread in the same way that Ebola is spread:
Ebola is spread through direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes in, for example, the eyes, nose, or mouth) with
- blood or body fluids (including but not limited to urine, saliva, sweat, feces, vomit, - breast milk, and semen) of a person who is sick with Ebola
- objects (like needles and syringes) that have been contaminated with the virus
- infected fruit bats or primates (apes and monkeys)
Ebola is not spread through the air or by water, or in general, by food. (CDC.gov)
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/3449. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
1 answer
In any epidemic situation, there are a few important steps to work through:
- Contain
- Treat
- Learn
Containment
Fortunately for the rest of the world, Britain is an island. That takes care of a fair bit of containment - unless the disease is water-borne. However, the fact that zombies can't swim could be an indication: can they not swim physically, or is it because they avoid water deliberately? If it's the latter, there's a fair chance that the disease is not water-borne.
If, however, the world is unlucky and the zombie virus is water-borne, there may be more of a problem. As soon as a zombie falls into a river or the sea, there is a chance that viruses could escape into the water and travel to other land. But fortunately again, the currents around Britain prevail to the north and as such the virus would be transported that way, away from most land.
The last point here is viral survival. Virus lifetimes range up to 48 hours in water so could potentially last to France if the current was the right way. However, the English Channel has an average temperature of 15 degrees C - too cold for bacterial replication if we're dealing with a bacterium, and potentially cold enough to kill off a virus. The rest of the world is pretty safe.
Treatment
Pretty much dealt with. Most of Britain has been wiped out. However, host countries for the survivors might want to keep an eye on them... they might still be asymptomatically carrying the virus.
Learning
Here's where the response really comes in. The rest of the world is going to want to know that they're safe from this happening to them. So, some possibilities:
-
Send scientists
Other developed countries may want to send some scientists to do some testing on the virus. However, they'll want to be both armoured and armed - possibly some of the armed forces should go with them, as guns are shown to be effective in the film (the scene at the motorway checkpoint). They probably won't need biohazard suits, because the virus doesn't seem to be airborne, but armour in case the zombies try an attack would be a good idea.
-
Repopulate
As you say, the rest of the world will want to reintroduce humans to Britain. This is going to have to be done cautiously, in case there are any traces of the virus left around. For the first few weeks at least, the settlers may all want to carry some sort of weapon - I'd recommend a firearm and a blunt heavy weapon like a baseball bat (there's a reason they're used in robberies). This would make sure that anyone who became infected could be 'dealt with' swiftly to pose minimal risk to everyone else.
Lastly, the authorities who sent the settlers will probably want situation reports frequently. That means the settlers either need to take equipment with them, or enough skilled workers to get power plants running again to power transmitters.
Summary
The rest of the world is pretty much safe from this epidemic. What they need to do now is learn from it and then repopulate, making sure the virus can't come back.
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