Brain Spores
We let the outbreak get out of control, and now dozens of them wander the village. They stumble around through the streets, their eyes glazed over and their faces wearing drunken smirks. The mushrooms that grotesquely poke out of their skin spew out clouds of spores so thick, you can barely see them through the haze. Anyone who is still healthy has already fled, it's too late for anyone who is still here. We are doomed to all fall to madness and disease as this village slowly dies.Brain Spores are the layman's term name for brain altering fungus that can effect specifically Miinu. The fugus seems to be a mutation of a few known fungal infections that effect regular insects, such as Cordyceps militaris and Massospora cicadina, that has hopped from regular insects to the unique anatomy of the Miinu.
Transmission & Vectors
The fungus is most often contracted through the ingestion of spores that have landed on food or organic material; particularly the unwashed variety. It can be found on organic material resting with several feet of a wild mushroom garden. They tend to be around hallucinogenic mushrooms, where Miinu will often go to get a brief high and may be tempted to eat something without sanitizing it first.
It also can be spread through other infected miinu, who can cough up spores that can end up on surfaces around them.
Symptoms
Dormant Phase
Upon initial infection the spore will remain dormant for about a day or so, allowing the Miinu to travel outside of the initial infection site. After some time has passed, the Miinu will start to develop small symptoms like headaches, dizziness, and may have a mild fever. Over time their behavior will start to change; they will become more paranoid, and will experience episodes of depersonalization and hallucinations. They might even do things that are out of character for them.Infectious Phase
After a few days have passed more physical symptoms will manifest. Rough, white rashes will form in various locations. They are very itchy, but scratching them will cause the rash to spread to further parts of the skin. Patients will also experience coughing fits which can cause chest pain and breathing problems. Over time, mushroom-like growths will start forming from lesions in the skin, typically the areas covered in rashes. The mushrooms will grow until their caps can open,and at that point, they are capable of lunching spores with the aid of the coughing Miinu. Mushrooms will continue to grow anywhere and everywhere they can as the infection takes over the body. During this phase, mental faculties will decline severely. Behavior of patients will become more erratic and 'zombie-like' as they enter an altered state where they are not in control of their actions. The state resembles forms of severe intoxication, but victims will start having the desire to spread the spores however necessary. This can include behaviors such as extreme aggression or extreme infatuation with other miinu near by, to the point they attack them in order to make physical contact. They will also get the urge to wonder great distances and climb up tall structures, in attempts to spread the spores more efficiently. In this state, the Miinu is unresponsive to normal communication, and will not recognize family or friends. They seem unable to take care of basic needs other than eating and sleeping, and have been known to drool absentmindedly.Fatal Phase
After a few weeks of infection, the fungus will start eating away at the Miinu's brain. All spreading behaviors will stop at this point, and neurological function will fail as the miinu sustains brain damage. This stage is noted by frequent seizures, which will continue until the Miinu dies. After death, the fungus will continue eating away at the body as it decays until it leaves behind a mushy pile of detritus. The fugus does not live much longer after its host days, and will usually wither within days of running out of food.Treatment
As scary as the disease is, all hope is not lost. If the infection is found in the earlier stages, it can be treated. Usually two herbal medications will be made; an ointment to kill the fungus rash and mushroom growths, and a liquid one to kill off the infection internally. It will usually take a few days for the symptoms to disappear, and if they have reached the infectious stage, they will have to be quarantined for about a month, to make sure all the spores in their home die before they can infect others.
There is not often long term side effects of the infection after its been treated. There is a small chance of scarring where growths were at their worst, and there's a chance that they may experience mental trauma from the psychoactive effects. Unfortunately, if the infection has already started to eat away at the brain there is little that can be done to save them. Even if the infection was killed, they will have likely sustained too much brain damage before the infection is thoroughly eradicated from their system.
Prevention
The best way to prevent infection is to make sure anything you eat is washed thoroughly. Water or heat from cooking will kill the spores and make the food safe to eat. Never eat something that has been sitting on the ground for a long time, and avoid eating food that grows near large mushroom gardens. Only forage for mushrooms that you are absolutely sure are safe to eat.
If you encounter an infected miinu, remain downwind of them and stay at least a foot away from them. Do not stay in the same house as someone who is infected and make sure they stay in a quarantined area during their treatment. If you must interact with an infected person, wash yourself as soon as possible to kill any spores that may have landed on you, and do not touch any orifices like your mouth or nose. Make sure to thoroughly clean and sanitize your space after moving a patient from the area.
If you happen to encounter a corpse infected with the spores, do not touch it. If its in your space or in a public area, call someone who can removed it while wearing protection. If you must move it on your own, make sure that you have something to cover your moth and nose, and some form of gloves. You can also wrap the corpse in a blanket you won't miss. Make sure to burn the body to ensure the fungus dies.
History
Brain Spores are a disease that have historically effected populations of Miinu for centuries. While there are plenty of cases occurring in the wild far form society, the biggest epidemics have occurred in villages and colonies, where many miinu are in close contact with each other. There reports of entire villages being abandoned due to an outbreak getting out of control. When too many people are infected to effectively quarantine, often healthy miinu have no choice but to evacuate the area to keep their homes from being contaminated.
About 20 years ago, village outside of the Precursor Village was found empty after all contact from the area had stopped for months. The town was covered in dead mushrooms, and a few village news letters and villager diaries told the story of their demise. An group of ant miinu had gone on a foraging expedition and then they returned, nearly a dozen of them had shown signs of brain spore infection. It turned out that they had ran out of food on the journey, and a delirious and hungry crew wound up coming across some berries on the forest floor and ate them without thinking. They had not realized they were near a mushroom patch until most of them had already eaten from the berries.
They immediately turned back to get medical treatment, but by the time they made the long journey home, the infection had already taken hold of a few of them, and the spores spread around town. Despite efforts being made to quarantine the ants, village leaders had no idea how many of the village had been unknowingly infected by the fungus. They had opted to keep the incedent hush hush to not panic the village, assuming that if anyone were to get sick, they would come to the infirmary. However this was not the case as many confused the first symptoms of the infection with a small cold or allergies. By the time anyone in the village realized there was a bigger problem, it was already too late, as contagious individuals had already contaminated most of the homes and public centers.
Attempts were made to keep the plague under control, but it was spreading too quickly, and too many villagers had already been infected to effectively quarantine them all. Eventually, an evacuation order was made to anyone who was still healthy and uncontaminated, but by the time they did, only a few people still qualified, leaving the rest of the village on their own. The diary of a recently infected individual described how they watched their village fall into chaos as the streets roamed with infected people. Eventually the diary spoke about how the infection was effecting their mind.
"The headaches hav turned to migranes... I camt remember what happsened the last fe w hours.... my mind is fuzzy... I don't feel like mself and my skin itches.... writing is the only thing i can do to stay conscious but its hard.... i keep hearing those mushroom heads banging at my door... they tell me they want inside... they try to tempt me with food or help but i know they just want me to leave the house.... they somtimes sound like my children but i know theeeiyr safe w ith the evacuation group... it cant be them... ... ... ive been in this house for days... i wanna get out of here... i wanna leave so bad... mmaybe i can afford just a little fresh air...."By the time anyone had arrived to check on the state of the town, there were no survivors. The town couldn't even be properly explored for another month, until it was made sure that there was no contamination left in the town. Strangely was well, the healthy group that supposedly evacuated town were also unaccounted for, and their remains were never found. Considering they never arrived to the Precursor Village, or any other neighboring villages, it's believed that either they all perished in the wilds between the two areas, or that one of more of their group was infected and they too succumbed to the infection.
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