The Breathless Plague

The victims of the Breathless Plague number in the thousands. The number has been maintained and has for the time being stopped growing due to the decided efforts of the Order of Benevolents to contain it to the Wastes and the Outlands. To date it has not made it into the more populated areas, as such an epidemic would potentially cause irrevocable damage to the populations of those places if left to spread uncontested.
Diagnosis Within just an hour of infection, the patient will have a rapid onset of shortness of breath followed by fever and disorientation. During this time, infected creatures will suffer a -2 penalty to all strength and constitution checks including combat. The disorientation will continue to escalate and will include hallucinations, both visual and auditory, tremors in the external parts of the body, and a yellowing of the skin, especially around the eyes, mouth, and nose. These symptoms will continue to escalate until the patient expires with an additional -1 penalty cumulatively added to all rolls for each day that passes.
Pathology The pathogen behind this malady is one of the tougher diseases to treat, as it takes a great degree of time and resources. It is a resilient infection that shows a strong ability and drive to propagate and to do so will utilize the host even before death. The host is infectious to other creatures as soon as 24 hours after the initial exposure. It targets the lungs and quickly causes them to fill with fluids in a way not too different from pneumonia, leaving the host coughing and weakened. The contagion's ability to restore ambulatory processes upon the death of the host creature makes it one of the more deadly infections in Cairne. Even though it primarily targets the respiratory system, the pathogen itself replicates quickly and permeates every part of the body, leaving the victim a dangerous source of infection for anyone around them.
Epidemiology This highly contagious pathogen has its roots in the Wastes, and following the trail of the disease points here. The hostile nature of the region has hindered any efforts to find the source and, if it is still even possible, patient zero. The dry climate that exists there made a perfect location for the initial vectors of the disease to propagate and mutate into what is now known as the Breathless Plague. There are two large herds known of currently, one in the Wastes and one in the Outlands. The Outland herd is often mistaken for the herd of Void Walkers, but the two are not associated and the infections differ drastically. The Restless Dead as they are known, are not bound to the Blighted Lands in any way, and if they were to break the loose quarantine areas the Order of Benevolents struggles to keep them held at bay in, the pathogen would easily and quickly spread causing a mass extinction level event. This is a simple disease to track, as the highly infectious nature of it and the destruction it leaves in its wake is unmistakable.
Etiology If the infection is caught within the initial 24 hours following exposure, there is a small chance the patient can be saved and the effects reversed. The area of infection must be thoroughly washed and sterilized quickly using the proper sterilization techniques taught to the Benevolents. After this is completed, a successful field amputation of the area must be completed. If the area of infection is not an amputatable area, than the same skill can be applied to remove a sizable enough portion of flesh surrounding the area of infection to hopefully remove enough of the contagion to allow the Benevolent to continue to fight the disease. If this is the case, all recovery and survival rolls made by the patient during the process are to be made at a disadvantage with a +1 bonus added for every 3 levels of the Benevolent's skill. Should the patient expire at any time during the treatment, they remain under the influence of the disease and will reanimate within 24 hours if the body is not properly disposed of. If the removal is a success, the patient's recovery will be an intensive care period requiring full rest and regular doses of antibiotics and Linctus Simplex to stave off the damage already incurred to the upper respiratory system. The rest period will take 1d10 + 3 days until the patient is able to manage on their own without risk of further infection.
Thanatology The body of an infected patient must be properly prepared and destroyed or it will reanimate and attempt to spread the infection. The lungs and brain must be removed separately and destroyed in a chemical bath of acid or similar corrosive agents that will break down the viscera and completely destroy the pathogen. The body must then be immolated in a contained fire. Though there is little chance of the contagion causing further infection at this point, there is still a 1% chance that an uncontained fire will infect those nearby via airborne contaminants.

Type

Viral