War For The Planet Of The Apes: 15 WTF Moments

12. The Weirdly Specific Virus Upgrade

Not to get into a biological debate, but at a rudimentary level, the general logic of viral mutation is that viruses will evolve in order to ensure the survival of their future generations. In the case of a deadly virus like Simian Flu, which kills its host, the virus needs to change in order to find healthy hosts to keep ensure the survival of its progeny, as well as keeping a means of transmission.

In that respect, the fact that the Simian Flu has changed to infect but not kill its hosts, while making their bodily fluids super infectious makes sense. But isn't it still a little silly that it has mutated from something so deadly to just giving people vague 'Monkey Behaviour-itis"?

All it does now is rob them of their ability to speak, and inhibiting some brain function (though the level of that is pretty wildly inconsistent, and so is the rate of infection). That's a very weirdly specific type of mutation even in a world of talking apes.