Yea I was thinking about the prison scene. Thats why I was thinking they killed those scratched just as a precaution to keep out of harms way.
The leg amputation was because he was bite. They did it to keep it from getting to his core. Antibiotics were to keep it from being infected from bacteria/inflammation.
But yea something has to be different about the virus while in a walker as opposed to the virus in a living host. Maybe its dormant.
I just read an article in Scientific American about how some cells become more active after death than they were while the person was alive.
Long story short:
The theory is that this is a result of the active cells (say Cell A's) in the body that controlled the activity of those other Cells (say Cell B's) die. Because Cell A die, it can no longer controll the activity/productivity of Cell B. Thats why Cell B become more active after death. Giving the impression of life after death.
Perhaps something of the same nature happens with this walking dead virus.
