"So that's it... You'd better test all these refugees. I suspect they may have been infected with this virus!"
"Don't be nervous, Brother Nishiyuan, cannibalism is a last resort at this special time... The medical soldiers are just guessing. The transmission routes of prions are very limited, so you don't have to worry too much about being infected." Ada reassured me. if.
"We have rescued so many victims. We can count the number of people infected with this virus on one hand. They all experienced cannibalism before being infected. In addition to family inheritance, most people also have medical sources. You can’t get infected through these two types of infections, sexually transmitted infections.”
After Ada explained to me, one of the refugees suddenly laughed inappropriately, his mouth almost reaching his ears, tears of laughter came out, and he was out of breath.
"Why are you laughing?" I asked him.
He didn't answer me, but kept laughing until there was no sound left behind, and his eyes were red and veins popped out!
"Uncle Yang...I see...there seems to be something wrong with this person..."
The laughter stopped suddenly, and the man fell straight to the ground and stopped moving...
"I'm out of gas..." Ada said to us after checking.
"Are you laughing so hard?" Chaoyang asked, rubbing his hands together.
"I think this person is probably infected with prions." Ada's face darkened, "This is exactly the same as the case of a disaster victim we encountered before..."
"Isolate these people in this building first. Don't let them run around. Let our soldiers stop running around. Pay special attention to what you eat. Where is the squad leader of the cooking class?"
Lao Yang was looking for someone in the crowd, and a dark-skinned man wearing a white apron around his waist trotted over with a big iron spoon.
"You must strictly control the ingredients. The safety of everyone in the camp is now in your hands!"
"yes!"
The squad leader of the cooking squad stood at attention and performed a military salute.
"I'm going to check on the medical soldiers' autopsies over there."
"I'll go too!" Xiwu and Chaoyang are always interested in this kind of thing, so they followed them. I don't want to stay with these refugees. These people look pitiful, and they are all Ogre, you might have infected me too. I followed Yugiri and the others to the place where the autopsy was done.
They carried the bearded man's body to the yard and lit a fire. They carried the recently deceased refugee to the iron bed where I had slept. They were cleaning the body and taking pictures.
Only then did I realize that this iron bed was not meant for people to sleep on! It is used for autopsies and burials! Thinking of this, I shuddered...
Lao Yang brought masks and distributed them to us, and the autopsy began.
The first knife was cut from the chest, and instantly the skin and flesh of the corpse were turned to both sides. The medical soldiers took out the internal organs one by one, preparing for the next step of dissection.
Then, a medical soldier pressed the corpse's head. I saw that when the corpse's head was pressed, it turned out to be a finger socket! "Does this person have no skull? Or is the scalp too thick?" Chaoyang whispered to Xiwu, and Xiwu made a shushing gesture to her brother, telling him to be quiet and continue watching.
The medical soldiers were also experienced. Under such simple conditions, they just used a scraper to shave off all the hair of the corpse, and then pressed the corpse's head with their hands. It felt like dough. When you press it, there is a pit!
The medical soldier's hand was very steady, and he cut open the corpse's forehead and hairline, and the soft tissue fluid flowed out all over the iron bed in an instant!
It was some pink flocculent substance, like tofu curd that had not completely solidified, but it was mixed with some red blood and turned a little pink.
"My brain is like this... He is still alive..." Chaoyang's tone was full of disbelief.
The medical soldier took some pink floc and put it in a container to store it for later testing.
There was a medical soldier over there, who arranged the internal organs on another iron bed, and then dissected the deceased's stomach first.
It was full of yellow-green mucus. After the stomach lobes were cut open, the whole room had a sour smell in addition to the smell of blood.
The food that the corpse ate before death has not been completely digested. Among the piles of mucus, a small finger is extremely eye-catching... This should be his last main meal...
I couldn't watch it anymore and stood in the corridor waiting for them to finish.
After a long time, they finally walked out of the room while talking. The medical soldier took off his mask, and his face was covered with deep marks.
"Although viruses are scornfully called low-level organisms by us, they are still a living organism, possessing the most basic genetic material, DNA or RNA, and a protein shell. Prions, on the other hand, are just protein molecules without even genetic material."
"Then why do you still say it is a virus?" Chaoyang asked the medical soldier.
Generally, viruses use DNA or RNA replication to disintegrate the host's body structure, and eventually the host dies. However, prions adopt a method similar to "preaching", converting all the proteins in the brain into prions, and finally the host dies with "empty brain". "
"After an organism is infected with a prion, it will enter the brain and assimilate the prion protein into its own form. The prion protein is an important component of nerve cells. They rebel one by one under the temptation of the prion, and the nerve cells are disintegrated from the roots. .
Nerve cells are non-renewable, so this kind of damage is almost irreversible. The brain is eaten away bit by bit, and finally only a shell of the brain is left. Once you are infected with a prion, there is basically no cure. You can only watch the prion assimilate every prion protein in the brain into its own image.
This process is extremely painful, because the damage to nerve cells is "step-by-step", and the infected person will experience it, from the most elementary brain disease to the most severe brain disease, from having a little sense to being completely irrational. "
So... This explains the irrational behavior of these people very well... Their last instinct to get food is driving their bodies to continue functioning. If this is the case... being infected with this virus is worse than the head. It would be even more pitiful to drive steel nails into a puppet...
The medical soldier continued, "I am very sure that this person is infected with prions. Those refugees must be tested immediately. Someone will definitely get sick again! Moreover, based on my visual inspection of the diseased brain of the corpse, I think this prion virus ...may have mutated!”
"Is there any hope for those infected to be cured?" Chaoyang asked.
"Once humans are infected with this kind of prion, there is no way to treat it. In a sense, prion is a kind of zombie protein. If you want to kill this kind of prion, the only way is to Burn it to ashes..."
"Zombies? Will they really become this kind of thing? This is much more fun than games!" When Chaoyang heard these two words, his eyes widened with excitement!
"Child, don't talk nonsense if you don't understand things!" Lao Yang was a little unhappy when he heard Chaoyang's words, and scolded him with a straight face, "These are all your brothers and sisters. Don't you feel heartbroken to be like this?"
"I don't know them, so what's the point of being heartbroken?" Chaoyang said nonchalantly.
"These people...sigh...get tested quickly...if they are infected, we must deal with it as soon as possible to prevent the virus from spreading."
"etc..."
The medic suddenly closed his eyes and staggered a few times...
"What's wrong?" I quickly went to help him.
"I'm...a little dizzy...it's okay..."
Lao Yang frowned, "I suggest that the refugees be isolated first, and then tested in our team first!"
"Do you think...we may also be at risk of infection?" Ada asked...
"It is indeed possible... I was reckless when I let those refugees in... Get tested immediately! Hurry!"
