Sunday, November 6, 2011

PREPARING FOR A PANDEMIC –– ZOMBIES AND THE CDC



By Chris Wilson
Editor-in-Geek



The required steps toward pandemic preparedness are eerily similar between an antibiotic-resistant strain of e-coli or an impending zombie-virus apocalypse. If one is going to write a how-to manual … might as well use zombies as the backdrop.

The Centers for Disease Control's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response did just that. While they were at it, the agency employed a technique long understood and used by the military: comics. The CDC created a zombie apocalypse comic, PREPAREDNESS 101: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, to teach the public how to prepare for real pandemic emergencies. 

Readers follow Todd, Julie, and their dog Max as a strange new disease begins spreading, turning ordinary people into zombies. Stick around to the end for a surprising twist that will drive home the importance of being prepared for any emergency. Included in the novel is a Preparedness Checklist so that readers can get their family, workplace, or school ready before disaster strikes. Click on the images below to view the novella. Transcripts of each chapter are provided below each chapter thumbnail.

PREPAREDNESS 101: ZOMBIE PANDEMIC (full color comic in pdf)
PREPAREDNESS 101: ZOMBIE PANDEMIC (text-only alternative in pdf)

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