The Great Plague

The virus behind the crisis known as the Great Plague causes an acute, serious illness which is often fatal if untreated.

Transmission & Vectors

The virus originates in the Forzenn Cove area. The lake north of the settlement is usually too cold for the virus to spread, but once in a while Tula’tevenn Province experiences a warmer than average winter, leading to warmer weather in the spring which allows the virus to spread. At first it infects the smaller animals living there, which will in turn infect anything that eats them. Land dwelling animals that drink the lake water often become infected as well. Only white dragons are known to have any degree of immunity.
The virus enters the human and wolfling populations of the Province by eating infected animals and by drinking water contaminated with secretions of infected animals.
It then spreads through person to person transmission via direct contact (through broken skin or mucous membranes) with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected people, and with surfaces and materials (e.g. bedding, clothing) contaminated with these fluids.
Those attempting to care for the infected have frequently been infected themselves. This has occurred through close contact with patients when infection control precautions are not strictly practiced.
Burial ceremonies that involve direct contact with the body of the deceased can also contribute in the transmission of Ebola.
People remain infectious as long as their blood contains the virus.
In the year 452, there was an abnormally warm winter which led to the virus's ideal conditions. In that particular year, the sitting Dragonlord was having a birthday celebration at her family manor in Forzenn Cove. There were many visitors from out of Province. Unknown to all involved, some of the fish served were already contaminated. When they left for their homes, the virus was in their systems. This caused it to spread through all five Provinces rather than it just being contained to its native turf. Even the Ryuutenshi Valley became infected, though not to as great a degree as the Provinces.

Symptoms

From time of initial infection it can take 2 to 15 days before symptoms begin to manifest. People are not infectious until they develop symptoms.
First symptoms are the sudden onset of fever fatigue, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhea, rash, symptoms of impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding (e.g. oozing from the gums, blood in the stools).

Treatment

Up until the year 454, there was no known cure for this illness. Infected individuals either pulled through on their own or they died.

A team of healers from both the Sisterhood of Sword and Sorcery and the White Winds mage school worked together to find a way to treat this epidemic. A variety of sea grass from Dermaya Port proved to contain a substance that eased the symptoms of the infected. When blended with a few other common herbs it cured most of the infected. Those whose symptoms had progressed too far proved impossible to cure, but the treatment eased their pain until they passed. Anyone in the early stages who received the treatment pulled through. Shortly after, the plague ended.

Prognosis

During the years of the Great Plague, 3 out of every 5 infected people died.

Type

Viral

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Uncommon