Pigeon Fever

Pigeon Fever is a nasty disease that originated from the Bootleg peninsula. When there is an outbreak, it spreads like wildfire and strikes terror and terrible coughs in the hearts of the strongest and bravest men. It may be a rare disease, but it's extremely frightening because of it's destructiveness.

Transmission & Vectors

Pigeon Fever is transmitted by coming in contact with infected items,objects,people or animals as well as their excrement and bodily fluids or even by something as little as being coughed or sneezed on by an infected passer-by. The virus usually dies after being 36 hours outside.

Causes

Pigeon Fever is caused by an aggressive virus that attacks the respiratory system. It's most commonly found in birds but it has been known to infect mammals and reptiles. It was originally only harmful to birds until probably around 284 A.B when a mutant strain appeared which was capable of infecting mammals and reptiles as well.

Symptoms

High fever, and a very bad cold in the beginning. Extensive coughing up of lung juice, mucus and blood towards the end (at this point the traditional treatments rarely work).

Treatment

There is no known effective treatment. A rare and little known technique is injecting someone with a survivor's blood which rarely works because usually the blood types aren't compatible. A practiced cure that doesn't usually work is breathing hot steam from a spice brew (it raises the chance of survival to about 20% because the hot steam can kill the virus (along with your burning lung tissue which is insanely painful) if the disease is still in a relatively early stage).

Prognosis

The virus travels to lungs where it dissolves the lung tissue causing the lung to deteriorate until they fill with fluid and the victim chokes or until the are to small to keep the victim alive.. Pigeon fever is very fatal and extremely contagious. The Non-bird survival rate averages at about 15% and it tends to kill within about 3 weeks.

Sequela

Survivors usually have light to severe breathing problems as a result of lung deterioration while being sick. The virus stays in the body only up to about a week after recovery and the survivor is immune to the disease henceforth.

Affected Groups

Any bird, mammal or reptile that comes in contact with the virus.

Hosts & Carriers

Birds carry the disease and they are usually unaffected by the disease for a few months and even up to a year before it suddenly gives them a very aggressive attack which usually kills them within about 3-5 days. The carrier can be infectious for up to a week before the viral attack and up to four days after death. Their survival rate is 2% of the time. If they survive, they die of predation, thirst or starvation because of breathing problems which prevent them from flying.

Prevention

Avoiding infected and/or dead poultry and birds in general as well as people sick with the disease.

Epidemiology

The condition usually starts with hunters and poultry farmers and spreads by getting in contact with infected tissue, infected secretions like mucus or saliva or from being coughed or sneezed on by an infected person, or touching an object that had all of the above happen to it.

History

The first recorded incident was in the first outbreak. If there were previous incidents, they occurred in illiterate populations and were rare so they weren't recorded.

Cultural Reception

Pigeon Fever is a highly feared disease because when it breaks out it spreads like crazy and kills loads of people and livestock alike. As a result, certain Emorian traditions have birds as evil omens and harbingers of death and destruction. There are even more places that residents were terrified of birds and would burn them on sight as a result of the disease's effect on their population.

Type

Viral

Origin

Mutated

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Rare

Affected Species

• Horse
• Cave Midget
• Midget
• Erep
• Centaur
• Manderthal
• Human