The zombies are referred to in the book as ‘the Rabid Dead.’ Rabies, long known and recognized since ancient times, infects the central nervous system, ultimately causing disease in the brain and death.
The rabies virus travels to the brain by following the peripheral nerves. The incubation period of the disease is usually a few months in humans, depending on the distance the virus must travel to reach the central nervous system. Once the rabies virus reaches the central nervous system and symptoms begin to show, the infection is effectively untreatable and usually fatal within days.
The zombie plague’s similarities to rabies in men and animals may reveal the key to the origins of this horrible pestilence on mankind.