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that eventually crashed the CDC website. Usually, CDC blog posts get traffic between 1,000 and 3,000 hits per week. 60,000 hits were reported by the evening of May 18. The post, oriented at "a young, media-savvy demographic", was read by so many that "by
Thursday, it was a trending topic on Twitter".
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The CDC's blog post included precautionary tips about zombies along with its usual tips for preparing an emergency kit, as well as emergency escape routes in case of an earthquake or hurricane. For example, after explaining how the public should be prepared "if zombies started appearing outside your
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Plan your evacuation route. When zombies are hungry they won't stop until they get food (i.e., brains), which means you need to get out of town fast! Plan where you would go and multiple routes you would take ahead of time so that the flesh eaters don't have a chance! This is also helpful when
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saw the absence of weapons recommendations (albeit, tongue-in-cheek) as a "downside to the CDC's warning" and wrote: "If a zombie apocalypse does happenâand this is importantâdo not follow the CDC's guidelines as your only course of action. The CDC zombie plan includes no mention of shotguns,
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Daigle said people were visiting the CDC's blog and following CDC tweets because they were mostly interested in zombies and were asking what weapons the agency would recommend to fight zombies. Khan's response to this inquiry was, "remember, we're a public-health center, so we're not going to
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announced a contest for the most creative and effective videos covering preparedness for a zombie apocalypse or apocalypse of any kind. In this video contest, the CDC challenged contestants to upload videos to YouTube demonstrating how they are preparing for emergency situations such as
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writes: "Take a zombie apocalypse for example. That's right, I said z-o-m-b-i-e a-p-o-c-a-l-y-p-s-e. You may laugh now, but when it happens you'll be happy you read this, and hey, maybe you'll even learn a thing or two about how to prepare for a real emergency." Comparing the upcoming
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got 12,000 followers; overnight the number of followers increased to 1.2 million, or 100 times the initial number. Mr. Daigle commented that the number of followers of the CDC's zombie apocalypse tweets was comparable to the number of followers of the
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cars, seeking high ground, traveling at night vs. day, or really any worthwhile strategy for keeping zombies out of your house. Parts of it are good, but it probably would serve the public better in the event of, for instance, a hurricane."
70:, Khan recommends Americans prepare for natural disasters as they would have prepared for "ravenous monsters". The blog post was part of a larger zombie-themed campaign retired by mid-2022 and replaced with the Prep Your Health CDC website.
94:. This provided the idea for the upcoming CDC post, implemented on May 18, 2011 along with two tweets. "The whole idea was, if you're prepared for a zombie apocalypse, you're prepared for pretty much anything," said Drew RN.
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said that the CDC deserves credit for trying something different, "but that doesn't mean the agency should start using vampires to promote vaccinations or space aliens to warn about the dangers of smoking."
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is planning to run a survey to find out how many of the blog's readers actually followed the tips and made recommended preparations for natural disasters, zombie attacks and other emergency situations.
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followed the CDC's lead in using zombies as a hypothetical example of a pandemic-type disaster that would require emergency preparedness. A few days later, a tongue-in-cheek exchange ensued in the
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graphic novella written and created by Maggie Silver, with help from fantasy artist Bob Hobbs (layouts, pencils and inks), Alissa Eckert (coloring) and Mark Conner (lettering, assembly).
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and pandemics were working on the message anticipating the 2011 hurricane season. Health communication specialists from CDC/OPHPR's
Communication Office remembered a
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39:. In a blog post titled "Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse", the director of the CDC's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response,
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money being used for the CDC's budget; the CDC assured the public there was no additional cost for their zombie apocalypse blog post.
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A week before the zombie apocalypse post, members of the CDC group responsible for preparedness of the public for
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doorstep", it continues: "You can also implement this plan if there is a flood, earthquake, or other emergency."
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Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.
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Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services
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recommend weapons. We'll leave that to the law-enforcement folks." Chris Good from
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141:: "We were trending yesterday! Things like the Royal Wedding trend. Not the CDC."
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853:"Canadian Parliament Prepares for Zombie Attacks After Undead War on America"
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If you're ready for a zombie apocalypse, then you're ready for any emergency
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the date predicted by Harold
Camping as the beginning of the end-times
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609:"Apocalyptic Economics: Whether Zombies or Rapture, Be Prepared"
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801:"CDC Offers Tips On How To Prepare For The 'Zombie Apocalypse'"
907:"CDC's Zombie Apocalypse Juggernaut: Next Up, a Video Contest"
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375:
744:"Will Budget Cuts Leave Us Unprepared for Zombie Apocalypse?"
337:
803:. New York: CBS. Associated Press/CBS New York. May 20, 2011
673:"CDC 'Zombie Apocalypse' disaster campaign crashes website"
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natural disasters strike and you have to take shelter fast.
776:"Why Did the CDC Develop a Plan for a Zombie Apocalypse?"
149:
National
Association of County and City Health Officials
489:"CDC Warns Public to Prepare for 'Zombie Apocalypse'"
459:. Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response.
879:"House of Commons Debates Official Record (Hansard)"
16:
Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention blog post
671:Marsh, Wendell (May 19, 2011). McCune, Greg (ed.).
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710:"CDC's 'zombie apocalypse' advice an Internet hit"
637:"US agency posts zombie apocalypse survival tips"
580:(Podcast). Event occurs at 10:36. Archived from
543:"Zombie apocalypse a coup for CDC emergency team"
268:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.)
139:wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
885:. House of Commons of Canada. February 13, 2013
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233:, earthquakes, hurricanes and zombie attacks.
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824:"When zombies attack, Quebec will be ready"
572:"Centers for Zombie Control and Prevention"
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27:post made in May 2011 by the United States
994:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
942:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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487:Miller, Joshua Rhett (October 24, 2015) .
465:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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29:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
822:Banerjee, Sidhartha (February 12, 2013).
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190:In February 2013, the government of the
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184:UNC-Chapel Hill School of Public Health
850:Simpson, Connor (February 13, 2013).
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457:"Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse"
364:In October 2011, the CDC published a
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570:Derek Colanduno (October 25, 2011).
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934:"Zombie Preparedness Graphic Novel"
606:Indiviglio, Daniel (May 20, 2011).
86:about zombies in connection to the
55:to "flesh-eating zombies" from the
21:Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse
242:Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic
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685:from the original on May 16, 2021
518:– via the Internet Archive.
355:Preparedness 101: Zombie Pandemic
980: (archived December 9, 2017)
974:CDC Zombie Preparedness articles
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720:. May 21, 2011. Archived from
1:
904:McKay, Betsy (May 20, 2011).
516:"Difference between captures"
129:Initially the tweet with the
92:TÅhoku earthquake and tsunami
35:to raise public awareness of
774:Good, Chris (May 20, 2011).
175:Others were concerned about
147:, executive director of the
945:. p. 3. Archived from
211:Minister of Foreign Affairs
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1004:Zombies in popular culture
461:Public Health Matters Blog
64:and the video game series
428:The Zombie Survival Guide
389:This section needs to be
200:Canadian House of Commons
88:nuclear disaster in Japan
298:, Government publication
124:The blog post generated
61:Night of the Living Dead
912:The Wall Street Journal
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37:emergency preparedness
182:Bill Gentry with the
883:Parliament of Canada
645:Agence France-Presse
641:ABC News (Australia)
51:season and possible
584:on January 12, 2020
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90:resulting from the
829:The Globe and Mail
31:(CDC) that uses a
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80:natural disasters
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276:Illustrator
265:Mark Conner
74:Inspiration
57:horror film
44:Ali S. Khan
1009:Blog posts
999:E-learning
988:Categories
551:. BlogPost
440:References
214:John Baird
207:Pat Martin
169:hot-wiring
956:April 23,
754:April 23,
689:April 24,
588:April 23,
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344:854576760
303:Publisher
279:Bob Hobbs
259:Bob Hobbs
167:torches,
53:pandemics
49:hurricane
748:ABC News
683:Archived
494:Fox News
421:See also
284:Language
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192:Canadian
177:taxpayer
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209:and
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