That is so sweet, thank you! I respect you too, as a lady and fellow TWD lover, and appreciate you looking out.

 

I will literally drink anything that isn't tequila. Tequila gets me kicked out of bars in Vegas.

 

Oh sh-t! tell me he didn't go there:dead:

 

I agree. Was it just bad writing or an indicator of something crazy to come?

 

Thanks for posting this, I was wondering about this myself. I've also been wondering if scratches no longer matter, at least from the perspective of the current writers. They used to use pitch forks & shovels (things with long handles) to kill walkers so as not to get too close, now it's knives. Most of them have on short sleeves much of the time, so you would think that would be risky since they are at such close range when they kill them. The first scene where Maggie was crying & the walker came up behind her, she put it's arm over her shoulder & easily could have gotten scratched, and I noticed it too during the bridge scene. I just figured at some point they must have decided scratches don't matter. Abe being cut by the knife that was just used to cut a walker is another thing, but they didn't address it so I wonder if they will just let that go. It would make sense if he became infected from that. He probably should be infected.

 

Well, we've never known if scratches matter or not. Occasionally Rick will mention the idea of a scratch mattering, but we've never seen it.

 

Its been a while since I have seen the first couple of seasons, but I could swear after encounters with walkers, they used to ask about and check for both bites and scratches? True it's hasn't actually mattered (except for the prisoner in season 3)..

 

Yeah; it seems now they've taken an approach where more or less the infectious bacteria that causes the fever and subsequent death is present only in the mouths of the zombies. So, I think the blood and other bodily fluids are relatively harmless.

 

You're right. Rick would always say something along the lines of-"Check 'em for bites or scratches"-or-"Are you bit or scratched!?"

 

So I dug around & found this article that explains it (once you get past the part where they identify different types of zombies). It does contain a few comic book spoilers. It actually does say any contact with zombie fluids in open wounds can spread bacteria, but it's not a guarantee that it will:


http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Zombies

 

Thanks, I thought so! It's confusing since everyone already carries the pathogen, but I found an article that explains it (above post), but it does leave me questioning certain scenes on the show..

 

In Days Gone Bye, Morgan asked Rick if he had been scratched. Apparently the walkers lost the ability to transmit the disease by scratches about the same time they forgot how to pick up rocks and dolls.

 

But just because Morgan THOUGHT that the bacteria could be transmitted through scratches doesn't mean it's true. They don't know any more than we do.

 

Wow, I completely forgot about Big Tiny. I remember him being stabbed in the back by a walker witha shattered wrist bone.

Still I would like to see some kind of consequence from this cut. Geez, all the people coughing, sneezing and not washing their hands (and whatever else) here at work just makes flu's, virus' go round and round. Even when you've had an immunization shot! I think there should be some kind of infection or illness after a couple of days. Especially since Abe is weakened from dehydration and starvation.

 

If you click in the following link, Kirkman explains it. He says they were picking up rocks & things in the beginning because at the beginning of the outbreak, they were stronger. Doesn't completely make sense to me since new people are getting killed all the time & you would think they would be strong as new walkers as well, but that's how he explains it. Also, they aren't transmitting the disease since everyone already carries it, but spreading bacteria which could lead to infection & possibly death, which would lead to being reanimated. Apparently this could happen any time a walker's blood got into your blood stream:

http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Zombies


"The rule is WHATEVER it is that causes the zombies, is something everyone already has. If you stub your toe, get an infection and die, you turn into a zombie, UNLESS your brain is damaged. If someone shoots you in the head and you die, you're dead. A zombie bite kills you because of infection, or blood loss, not because of the zombie "virus.""
—Robert Kirkman[src]

As previously stated, the zombie pathogen itself is not lethal, and zombie "infection" occurs due to high concentrations of antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in zombies, especially in their mouths. In the Walking Dead universe, every human being on the planet is believed to be infected, suggesting the disease is airborne or waterborne. Any time a human dies they will reanimate, bitten or not, unless their brain is destroyed. It is unknown if getting blood or saliva from zombies into human mouths will cause infection, but it is known that any contact zombie fluids make with open wounds, and possibly a human's eyes, will spread their lethal bacteria throughout the host's body.

Bites
Zombie bites are not necessarily fatal because of the zombie pathogen, but rather the unsanitary nature of their mouths due to diet and decomposition. Scratches cause similar infections for similar reasons.

Robert Kirkman wrote on Reddit:

...In the beginning of the show we saw walkers do things like using a rock to help bash the doors in or turning a door knob, is there a reason we've stopped seeing them do that?

"Older zombies are less together and capable or doing things like that. Fresher zombies, which there were more of in season one, are able to do more than older, more rotted zombies.

 

Kirkman's statement proves my tbeory that the zombie pathogen doesnt kill you. The bacteria present in tbeir mouths and bodies leads to an infection which kills you and the zombie pathogen just reanimates you when you die. I believe the bacteria is a superstrain that is totally antibiotic resisent. Given the speed with which the zombie pathogen spread, the scientists were unable to find a treatment for the infection. Also maybe infection is dependent upon the amount of the bacteria you are exposed to. A scratch would contain significantly less bacteria than a bite. If Abe doesnt turn this would be a valid excuse.
Kirkman's statement is in Issue 41 Letter Hacks near the end. I check this out to make sure this statement was made by Kirkman. All info on Wiki has to be verified.

[MENTION=25512]jwcoombs[/MENTION]

 

Face, mouth, what's the difference? My statement was still accurate when I claimed that death by bite is caused by an aggressively infectious strain of bacterium and not the Z-Pathogen.

 

Unless you are bit in a fatal location, it is the subsequent infection that can/will kill you. Thanks for the definitive since I often wondered why the pathogen didn't kill when they spread it on their faces/bodies. Living in these conditions most everyone should have open cuts and sores.

 

Maybe the survivors that have made it thus far into the zombie apocalypse are able to fight infection more than the general population.

If I got cut and scratched up like they all have gotten, I'd likely be dead from the infections alone--no easy access to antibiotics and the like. No hand sanitizers for sure. Wouldn't have the time to apply Purell after every contact with the undead! I'd be a goner for sure digging into my jean's pocket to splash on my sanitizer!

 

What I struggle with is that if they all are infected, as the dude at the CDC told Rick, then you can't get infected again. (It's like getting having HIV and being scared of having sex with someone infected with HIV...or any disease for that matter) Why would a bite cause them to "get sick" when they already have the virus in them? Why be concerned with getting bit, other than it hurts like hell?

I stand educated...I really like this explanation...

"If you click in the following link, Kirkman explains it. He says they were picking up rocks & things in the beginning because at the beginning of the outbreak, they were stronger. Doesn't completely make sense to me since new people are getting killed all the time & you would think they would be strong as new walkers as well, but that's how he explains it. Also, they aren't transmitting the disease since everyone already carries it, but spreading bacteria which could lead to infection & possibly death, which would lead to being reanimated. Apparently this could happen any time a walker's blood got into your blood stream:

http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Zombies


"The rule is WHATEVER it is that causes the zombies, is something everyone already has. If you stub your toe, get an infection and die, you turn into a zombie, UNLESS your brain is damaged. If someone shoots you in the head and you die, you're dead. A zombie bite kills you because of infection, or blood loss, not because of the zombie "virus.""
—Robert Kirkman[src]

As previously stated, the zombie pathogen itself is not lethal, and zombie "infection" occurs due to high concentrations of antibiotic-resistant bacteria found in zombies, especially in their mouths. In the Walking Dead universe, every human being on the planet is believed to be infected, suggesting the disease is airborne or waterborne. Any time a human dies they will reanimate, bitten or not, unless their brain is destroyed. It is unknown if getting blood or saliva from zombies into human mouths will cause infection, but it is known that any contact zombie fluids make with open wounds, and possibly a human's eyes, will spread their lethal bacteria throughout the host's body.

Bites
Zombie bites are not necessarily fatal because of the zombie pathogen, but rather the unsanitary nature of their mouths due to diet and decomposition. Scratches cause similar infections for similar reasons.

Robert Kirkman wrote on Reddit:

...In the beginning of the show we saw walkers do things like using a rock to help bash the doors in or turning a door knob, is there a reason we've stopped seeing them do that?

"Older zombies are less together and capable or doing things like that. Fresher zombies, which there were more of in season one, are able to do more than older, more rotted zombies."