Rossak Epidemic

The Rossak Epidemic was a new mutated strain of the Omnius Scourge that evolved in the jungles of Rossak. Far more complex and dangerous than the original plague, it resisted the use of melange and conventional medicine until Raquella Berto-Anirul synthesized an antidote within her own internal chemistry and destroyed the mutation.

Characteristics#

The Rossak Epidemic was far more complex and dangerous than the original Omnius Scourge. The death rate on the planet seemed to be around 60 percent, significantly higher than the 43 percent of the original Scourge. Over half of the population was affected, but the symptoms of the new epidemic were variable and difficult to predict or treat. The mutation did not respond to the use of melange, since its molecule was no longer as effective in blocking the receptor sites. In this incarnation, pus-filled lesions on the skin gradually covered the entire body, killing the membranous skin cells layer by layer and camouflaging the genetic blueprint of its DNA. The only partially effective treatment involved specialized blood-filtering treatments from modified dialysis apparatus. Like its previous incarnation, this retrovirus seated itself in the liver, but the slow and difficult dialysis procedure could not cull out toxins faster than the infected body produced them.

Quarantine and the search for a cure#

Ticia Cenva and her Sorceresses, while putting the planet under quarantine, worked to combat the spreading plague in the cliffside cities using their own cellular and genetic knowledge. They also used native herbs and drugs provided by VenKee pharmaceutical researchers, who had been stranded on the planet by the quarantine. After a full week they requested urgent aid from HuMed. Raquella Berto-Anirul went there to attempt to cure the population and to learn why the virus had mutated, scrambling for a cure by looking for patterns, mapping genomes, and projecting the statistically probable components of the virus from the available evidence. Standard protective devices proved ineffective, sterilization routines sometimes failed, and even potent doses of melange did not guarantee safety. In time, more than three quarters of the population in the cliff cities was infected, and the majority of those died.

Raquella's antidote#

Raquella and Dr. Suk were out of their depth and failing in their efforts. None of Dr. Suk's trial vaccines had shown positive results, and the epidemic continued to rage through the communal caves. Eventually Raquella made contact with the Misborn, the Rossak children with birth defects who had been abandoned in the jungle, obtained cenote water, and used it along with a poison from Ticia Cenva to synthesize an antidote within her own internal chemistry. She administered the antidote, and the mutation was destroyed.