The Last Of Us Infection ‘Three Steps’ Away From Happening IRL
While the zombie outbreak of something like Resident Evil sounds like an outlandish way to see out the end of the world - although there are evil genetics companies out there - it turns out that not every shuffling apocalypse is completely made up.
With a resurgence in the zombie genre in videos and games, there are increasingly ingenious ways to imagine how the human race will become flesh-hungry monsters. From experimenting on monkeys in 28 Days Later to a chemical leak in Train to Busan, the scariest ones are the ones we can imagine happening.
You might think you're safe from the mushroom monsters of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us and its live-action HBO adaptation, but apparently, a cordyceps outbreak is just "three steps away." Great, off to the bunker we go.
What Caused The Last Of Us' Cordyceps Outbreak?
Click to enlargeAlthough 2013's The Last of Us game kicked off at the start of the outbreak and quickly jumped 20 years into the future, the TV series gets a chilling opening in 1968, where epidemiologist Dr. Neuman (John Hannah) warns fungi could evolve and take control of us.
Even though Neuman's musings are written off as nonsense, The Last of Us' outbreak is based on the real-life Ophiocordyceps unilateralis. Better known as the "zombie-ant fungus," it effectively eats away the host ant's brain and controls it like a puppet.
It's true that fungi shouldn't survive past 34°C (below the average human body temperature), but in the world that The Last of Us created, they evolved to survive higher temperatures. With global warming pushing up our temperatures, could this really happen?
How Real Is The Last Of Us' Cordyceps Outbreak?
According to Fungal Infection Group research associate Norman van Rhijn from Manchester University (via the Daily Mail), a similar outbreak could be on the way... with a few conditions.
Rhijn says there would need to be "three fundamental changes," which include "adjustments in temperature, the structure of our body and the immune system."
Importantly though, our "immunity as a whole" would have to change for humanity to become a zombie fungus-infected race. The article says that there are "significant hurdles to overcome" in the evolution of fungi, but it's not impossible.
Explaining what Mazin, Game Director Neil Druckmann, and the writers got right, Rhijn said, "I would say that is almost 100 percent right. [The Last of Us] has taken inspiration from scientific proof and just sensationalized that a little bit."
What Fungi Do We Need To Look Out For?
Click to enlargeThe World Health Organization released its first list of health-threatening fungi in October 2022, with 19 fungi being outlined as a potential threat.
The likes of Candida auris emerged around 10-15 years ago and spread incredibly fast - with up to half of those being infected dying.
We should also watch out for Valley Fever, which is 10 times more deadly than flu. It recently made headlines when there was a spike in cases across the USA relating to the fungus Coccidioides. The real kicker is that scientists think it was due to climate change.
In better news, Rhijn concluded infected ants only want a place for the parasite to thrive: "There's no aggression. The infected ants will not attack. They act in a very strange way, like a drunk ant." Well, there's some solace that if we were infected, we might just wander around looking drunk.
