The apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic worlds demonstrated in television shows and movies are quite intriguing. One type of apocalypse that has been quite popular among viewers is a Zombie outbreak. Whether it is the fight to survive in the popular American Television Series The Walking Dead or tugging at your heartstrings in the South Korean action horror film Train to Busan, modern-era Zombie movies seem to have exploded. Now a new addition has taken the world by storm: The Last of Us. The show features a fungal species called Cordyceps. Seems like the makers of the show did some good research because the fungal species indeed exists in real life. Yet it might be far from causing an outbreak like the one seen on the show.
Cordyceps, or Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, is a real fungus. But it parasitizes the brains of insects like ants or spiders. Scott Roberts, MD, assistant professor of medicine (infectious diseases) at Yale School of Medicine and associate medical director for infection prevention at Yale New Haven Hospital has reported that mankind need not be fearful of this fungus. He said, “Very few fungi or mold spread person-to-person, so a fungal pandemic is not too likely.” Roberts also added, “But with factors like climate change, we may see increasing fungal threats.”
In his interview with Yale School of Medicine, Scott Roberts revealed what The Last of Us gets right is that the spores of the Cordyceps do seize control of the mind and motor functions of their host. This can cause erratic behaviors and stimulate the insect to seek a higher location. A place where there is more sunlight and warmth. This can help create prime reproductive conditions for the fungus. Once the insect dies, fungal growth bursts from the host’s head. This releases spores that will claim their next targets.
However, Roberts explained what the show did not get right. “There are millions of different fungal and mold species out in nature that don’t cause any sort of infection in humans, and this is one of them,” he explained. “A Cordyceps that infects one species of ant cannot even infect other species of ants.”
Furthermore, The Last of Us demonstrated how this mutated Cordyceps spread rapidly to humans through an infected food supply. While it is true that humans can acquire infections through food, the likelihood of fungus or mold causing problems through ingestion is low. “Viruses are set up to spread person-to-person—we sneeze, and it can infect 20 people in the right setting,” Scott Roberts said. “Fungal infections come from the environment—through inhaling spores or an exposed wound. And once you’re infected, the risk of spreading it to another person is exceedingly low.”
He also added that while fungi like psilocybin can have mind-altering properties in humans, any effects like that would wear off after the fungus leaves the digestive system.
The short answer of a fungal zombie outbreak taking over the world is almost impossible.
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