Red Fever

"Some of these Southerners are just a waste of time. Had a proper right one last month. Demanded we set them down at this river cove, a few dozen miles down the coast. Tried to tell 'em about the Red Fever, but they wouldn't listen. Insisted that they had no plans to 'consort' with the local savages. Well anyway, I swung around to check on them last week. You never know, right? Only two left, out of almost three dozen. Kept my distance though. I ain't stupid!"

A typically fatal tropical illness with no known cure in The Empire of Belyos. Thankfully restricted to the jungles and forests of the North and a few isolated cases in Rodess.

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Transmission & Vectors

Whilst unknown to the medical profession in The New Empire of Belyos, Red Fever is transmitted through the bite of insects carrying the virus in their system. Instead, healers and doctors have assigned the cause to 'bad air' in the jungles and forests of the north, caused mainly by the unsavoury practices of the natives living there. It's subsequent spread to the shanty towns of Rodess are attributed to a degeneration in the living practices there, clearly influenced by the northern continent natives.
So far its spread is limited to the warm, humid conditions of the equatorial regions, as the insects that transmit the disease have not migrated any further south.

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Causes

Mosquitoes and other biting insects spread Red Fever by either carrying in their own bloodstream, or biting someone after previously biting an infected person. Once infected, a person is themselves not infectious, but insects can still cause transmission.

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Symptoms

Red Fever manifests itself about 1 to 5 days after initial infection with a high temperature and general feeling of malaise. This stage tends to last between 2 to 10 days, before the appearance of a red rash across the body, joint pain, vomiting, blindness, and anaemia. The rash spreads across the entire body, causing painful red lumps that have a tendency to weep if touched.
The fever intensifies in the latter stages, and blood begins to appear in the vomit, urine and faeces of the infected. About 12 to 15 days after the first appearance of symptoms, the lumps break open, causing bleeding, and the patient dies from fluid or blood loss, or infection from the exposed sores.

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Treatment

The native Dwellers of the northern continent are well aware of Red Fever, and can spot its symptoms early, giving a medicine called Grey Bark. This medicine alleviates the symptoms and can prevent progression in most cases, if caught early enough. If the cure fails to work, most people request a quick, clean death, almost always given. A small minority appear to have natural immunity to the illness, feeling feverish for a few days, but recovering quickly.
So far, only a handful of more enlightened people of Imperial stock have realised this cure, and for the most part, the sick are isolated and given comfort, but ultimately left to die. Only a very small number have survived the illness; this typically is attributed to divine intervention.

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History

Whilst the native peoples of the Northern continent have been aware of Red Fever for all of their existence, Imperials only encountered it when the first ships started arriving on the shores. It quickly gained a fearsome reputation, and regions quickly became associated with the illness, being left well alone. Every now and again, hapless colonists will ignore the warnings and attempt to settle previously abandoned areas, only to leave quickly once the disease runs rampant through their population.
For a long time, it was relegated to a problem for colonists; those fleeing the Empire for one reason or another, and the nobility paid it no attention. However, less than a hundred years ago, cases have begun to crop up in the Empire most northerly city and gateway to the Northern continent, Rodess.

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Cultural Reception

Since its discovery and subsequent spread, the Red Fever has been traditionally associated with the 'primitive' peoples of the northern continent. To the view of most in the Empire, their unusual practices and heathen ways clearly cause the infection, and that so many of them survive show some kind of association with it. Settlers who come down with the fever are too influenced by the natives, and those who get it whilst in Rodess are not adhering to the 'proper' ways of Imperial citizens.
A small minority of priests and scientists are trying to overturn this thinking, but to no avail so far. Fear of the illness is high amongst colonists, and any target to distract from the reality of its fatality is encouraged, even if this means borderline genocide of the native peoples.

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Type

Viral

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Chronic, Acquired

Rarity

Rare