Zombies, jiangshi, draugrs, revenants — monster lore is filled with metaphors for public health

Imagine a city street at dusk, silent save for the rising sound of a collective guttural moan.

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A SCENE from the 2010 series The Walking Dead.

Suddenly, a horde of ragged, bloodied creatures appear, their feet shuffling along the pavement, their hollow eyes locked on fleeing figures ahead.

A classic movie monster, the zombie surged in popularity in the 21st century during a time of global anxiety — the Great Recession, the specter of climate change, the lingering trauma of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The zombie apocalypse became a way for people to explore the terrifying concept of societal collapse, a step removed from real threats such as nuclear war or global financial disaster.

As a public health epidemiologist and an amateur zombie historian, I couldn't help but notice the striking parallels between what epidemiologists do to stop infectious disease outbreaks and what horror movie heroes do to stop zombies. The key questions posed in any zombie narrative - how did this start, how many are infected, how to contain it - are the identical questions that epidemiologists ask during a real infectious disease outbreak or pandemic.

In 2011, in fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a zombie apocalypse preparedness guide that explained how readying oneself for a zombie apocalypse can prepare people for any large-scale disaster. The zombie is more than just a monster; it is a powerful, public health teaching tool.

ZOMBIES IN ANCIENT HISTORY

The idea of the reanimated dead has been part of human history for millennia, showing up across cultures and long before modern germ theory or epidemiology existed. These creatures were often a way for societies to understand and explain the natural world and disease transmission in the absence of scientific knowledge.

THE CONVERSATION

TOM DUSZYNSKI

The oldest written reference to creatures similar to modern zombies is found in