Quoted:
so in this alternate zombie outbreak where animals could get infected...
are we talking zombie ants and zombie moths and zombie house flies?
Zombie fleas? Zombie mites that live on your skin by the hundreds of thousands?
zombie mice?
It just doesn't work.
heck, while we are at it, why not zombie plants?
Some "zombie" training materials accept that animals can be "zombified." Obvious examples are the Resident Evil universe (dogs, birds, fish, sharks, spiders, bees, etc.) or I Am Legend (rats, at least as test subjects). However, it's important to note that those examples all use bio-engineered viruses, NOT the Solanum strain. Many of the RE viruses, for example, do not create true "zombies," in that many of the bio weapons are controllable (at least to some degree), occasionally exhibit free will, and are not infectious - the virus must be delivered directly, as processed, through inhalation, injection, consumption, etc. Even a direct bite from a RE "zombie" cannot cause infection - you need the source virus in its weaponized form.