Zombie Apocalypse Hits San Francisco? Will Infect SF in Less Than a Day Says Study

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Zombies never cease to fascinate, scare and intrigue just about everyone, even some scientists, it turns out.

Alexander Alemi, a PhD candidate in physics, and other researchers from Cornell University have developed an interactive map which predicts the spread of the zombie virus if there was ever an outbreak, reports DC Inno.

SF Gate has used the interactive map Alem and his colleagues created on San Francisco, using the recommended 0.8 bite-to-kill ratio. The predictions can be customized according to location, bite-to-kill ratios, and propagation speed.

According to the site, zombies cross the Bay Bridge, go through the BART tunnel and pass the East Bay within 36 hours. On day two, the undead spread to Menlo Park and the Mountain View.

A week later the zombies have already eaten everyone in Tahoe. While, Fresno, Visalia and Bakersfield are overrun with zombies by the end of the month.

According to DC Inno, the researchers from Cornell have concluded the following, "After 28 days, it is not the largest metropolitan areas that suffer the greatest risk, but the regions located between the large metropolitans areas. For instance, in California it is the region near Bakersfield in the San Joaquin Valley that is the greatest risk...."

Alemi suggests that during a zombie apocalypse it is best to get as far away as possible from cities or places surrounded by urbanized areas. According to the simulation that SF Gate conducted, Montana and Idaho will be safe from zombies for months before it is taken.

The interactive map was developed using the SIR model and data from the U.S. Census from 2010, reports SF Gate. The SIR model is an epidemiological tool that can track the progress of an actual infectious disease if one were to spread in society.

Alemi explains, however, that there is one difference between factual viruses and the zombie virus which effected the results of the research, reports Washington Post.

He says, "Zombies are unique and very different than other diseases in that victims of other diseases either get better or succumb to the disease. But zombies are the undead. They don't get better. And the only way to stop them is for a human to kill the zombie. With other diseases, no matter how many infections you model, the disease is not going to infect every single person. But in the zombie model, you really can turn every single person into a zombie.

The researched have presented their findings to the American Physical Society, reports the Washington Post.