While there has been a great deal in the literature that discusses the ethics of neurologic, cardiopulmonary and biologic death in the context of organ donation, there has been very little attention to this application with regard to zombies. Zombies are often referred to as “living-dead” which creates both a scientific, operational, and ethical conundrum with regard to classification. To date, there is no definitive answer as to whether zombies are truly “dead” or whether they are “living” or that they exist along the spectrum of conscious to coma, from living to dead. In the event of a zombie apocalypse, it is currently unclear whether or not zombies could be considered suitable organ donors.

Zombies: A Definition and Brief History

Zombies are a class of “living dead” that also includes vampires, ghouls, mummies, and wights. The term “zombi” was reportedly first used by the poet Robert Southey in his description of Brazilian history. One of the earliest references to zombies dates back to Mesopotamia in the Descent of Ishtar when the goddess Ishtar threatens to “raise up the dead, and they shall eat the living.”

Since then, there have been hundreds, if not thousands, of descriptions of undead, zombies, and reanimated humans in comics, books, television programs, and movies. Some cultures have an extensive history of zombies, the most well-described and studied being the Haitian Zombies of Voodoo.

Zombies are further divided into subcategories: zombies reanimated by black magic (Voodoo), those created by sorcery (necromantic), viral- induced (Solanum) and those created by mutation from radiation (atomic). There have been case reports of drug-induced zombies, but these were later re-classified as this state was reversible without intervention. There is a movement to utilize the more descriptive terminology Ataxic Neurodegenerative Satiety Deficiency Disorder (ANSDS).

Culturally, the term differently-animated has been used as a more politically correct term for identifying zombies. The varied terms, means by which zombification can occur and the newer, more descriptive and politically correct terminology however, has done little in the way to describe the actual physiologic state of zombies. This requires a more in-depth analysis of what we do and do not know about zombie biologic and specifically neurologic function.

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