Seranian fever
Seranian fever was the name given to the pandemic which wrought slaughter across most of Joriscia and Messenia between approximately 1603 and 1609. Although precise numbers cannot be confirmed, it is believed to have killed approximately 40% of the continent’s population over this period, rising to as high as 75% in parts of southern Joriscia where it was at its most virulent and longest-lived, causing a decline in overall population that was not recovered by net population increase for almost 120 years. Several alternative names for the disease, such as Mauspest (Zepnish), músarsótt (Hártal), šūdasmaras (Gergote) and kūrokūme (Agar) refer to the rodents which formed one of the main transmission vectors, the diarrhoea which was a common symptom, and the deafness which was a frequent complication for survivors. While never again as catastrophically effective as in its initial visitation, Seranian fever in more attenuated form would reappear on several occasions over the next 250 years.
Infection and transmission
Seranian fever is transmitted primarily through rodents; in Serania itself this is typically done by Halagan’s grey mouse (Mastomys halagani), which is found across most of Serania Minor, although transmission across more temperate regions of Joriscia and Messenia was effected mainly by the transfer of the disease to local rodents, mainly of genus Mus. It should be noted that the rodents are not themselves affected by Seranian fever, but merely provide a host for the virus.
The Seranian fever virus can be transmitted to humans in a number of ways. Firstly, the virus is contained within rodent urine and faeces, and can therefore be transmitted by direct physical contact with these materials, by touching objects which are contaminated by them, or through contact with cuts or sores. Transmission may also be effected by inhalation of airborne particles from droppings. In areas where rodents are consumed for food, transmission may be effected by direct consumption of infected animals.
The fever can also be spread by physical contact with an infected person, including exchange of body fluids; while transmission cannot be made by casual contact (including skin-to-skin contact), the fever can also be transmitted through cuts or sores, as with rodents.
Symptoms and complications
Symptoms of Seranian fever become apparent typically one to three weeks after initial infection. These include fever, cough and sore throat, back pain, diarrhoea, vomiting (both usually with blood loss), conjunctivitis, dysphagia (difficulty in swallowing), facial swelling and bleeding from the mucous membranes. Tremor, tachycardia (accelerated heart rate) and hearing loss are also common. The wide range of symptoms has frequently made diagnosis of Seranian fever difficult. Among survivors, approximately one-third suffer some degree of hearing loss, which is permanent in most cases.
Mortality rate among pregnant women in their third trimester can exceed 80%, with the death of the foetus in almost all cases; abortion of the child is known to reduce risk of death to the mother.
The virus is present in victims’ excretions for as much as nine weeks, and can be contained in semen for up to three months.
Appearance and spread of outbreaks
While reports from explorers in Serania Minor attest to the disease affecting Joriscian expeditions as early as 1590 (notably that of the Agamari explorer Ālto Hurskainen in 1593), the first known outbreak outside Serania itself can be dated to Metrial 1603, when Seranian fever appeared in port towns in the Etelämā region. It spread rapidly from there to the mainland of Agamar, and was carried by coastal shipping into other parts of south-eastern Joriscia; it reached Ephgil by Estion and outbreaks struck present-day Dekoral and southern Terophan in Dominy, aided by the warmer climate of the region, not dissimilar to that prevailing in its area of origin.
The dense network of trading vessels along the Joriscian east coast helped spread the virus in the east, bringing it into Prysostaia and Zemay by the spring of 1604. It is probably at around this time that the virus took Mus species as hosts; the hardier constitution of Joriscian and Messenian Mus species allowed the virus to be transmitted more readily into regions with more hostile climates.
The first known outbreak in the western regions was probably that which took place in the autumn of 1605 in Gattam, the capital of Gaugura (now the largest of the component parts of Matal). As had been the case in Joriscia, the status of Gaugura as one of the pre-eminent trading powers of the region saw infected ships traversing the Messenic Sea and beyond into the Medius Sea, with outbreaks taking place in BBB in Madaria in Empery 1605 and in Zweibeck in southern Zeppengeran in Sation of the same year. If anything, Messenia proved even more hospitable territory for Seranian fever than Joriscia had done; the disease became endemic across an area from the coast of Nation 37 to central Alcasia and southern Elland by the summer of 1606, and by December of that year it had taken hold in southern and central Siurskeyti and, after mainly passing around the Leucasian Mountains, had become rife across most of Ceresora. A temporary high-water mark was reached roughly along 45° north latitude by the beginning of 1608, although there were some pockets of territory which remained almost untouched, particularly the Leucasians in what are today Boehren and Neokratos. However, by the autumn of 1608 the range of Seranian fever had advanced as far as the north coast of Messenia, with Quesailles the last major city to fall victim in Ediface of that year.
Although there were some limited outbreaks of Seranian fever in northern Lestria, notably in modern Neyet and Pekhmet, the disease gained only a small foothold on the continent. The reasons for this are unclear, although modern epidemiological studies have suggested either a limited form of native immunity among the Lestrian population or, with somewhat stronger evidence, the incompatibility of native Lestrian rodent species as carriers for the Seranian fever virus.
Effects and contributory factors
The effects of Seranian fever were probably felt to a disproportionate extent in urban communities, where the presence of large numbers of people living in close proximity and highly insanitary conditions provided a very hospitable environment for the virus. By contrast, while the sparsely-inhabited plains country of the present-day Domradovid Joriscia and the Rastovid Confederacy was not completely unaffected, sizeable areas were wholly bypassed as the disease made its way overland to the west. Contemporary notions of hygiene in most parts of the continent were almost non-existent, adding to the potential scope of the virus; it is also thought that the beginning of an extended period of colder winters from approximately 1580 contributed to the damage by reducing harvest yields and creating more prevalent food shortages, leading to greater malnutrition and weaker immune systems among the target population.
While the living conditions of the lower classes made them most vulnerable, Seranian fever was no respecter of status or nobility, claiming victims among many of the noble houses of both Messenia and Joriscia. Civil authorities were largely at a loss to explain how the disease had arisen or, given the speed of its effects, to take any significant preventative action. The idea that the disease could be transmitted by something as insignificant as mice simply did not enter into the minds of the typical burgher of the time, with many coming to the conclusion that such a toll could only be ascribed to divine vengeance. Particularly in those regions in the south and west where Siriash had its strongest hold, the spread of the fever was accompanied by the rise of end-times cults convinced that the deaths were the last vengeance on humanity of a Council of Archtum now persuaded to set aside their principles of non-intervention. In outer Joriscia, the search for understanding, both of the disease itself and of the reasons for its spread, has been suggested as an accelerating factor in the advance of Vaestism across the region. In parts of the Cairan north and north-west, temples were torn down and set on fire, their attackers having concluded that such massive loss of life represented a catastrophic failure by humanity in its efforts to restore balance to the physical realm, as demanded by Cairan scriptures.
In many countries the immense vacuum created by the loss of so many lives prompted social upheaval on several levels; attempts by the peasantry to move away from their old lands and practices were met in many places by forcible return, in some instances on pain of death. The established dominant position of organised religion was frequently challenged, and the close association between church and state in many parts of the continent caused local rulers to use military force to put down rebellions of varying scales. Disruption caused by the disease almost certainly exacerbated the position on the ground in Great Neritsia during the later stages of the Errancy Era. To an extent, however, this latter phenomenon was confined to more heavily-populated countries, with more sparsely populated regions – particularly the areas which now form Domradovid Joriscia, the Rastovid Confederacy and Lutoborsk – experiencing less pressure for change.
Recurrence
The first great wave of Seranian fever had probably run its course by the end of 1608; while it had the same disastrous effects in present-day Savam and other northern Messenian countries during 1608-09, in the south of the continent it had ceased to have any further effect, having presumably reduced the population to those who had been lucky enough to miss its passage, or who had developed or already possessed a natural immunity. Such natural selection allowed most regions to weather later outbreaks more effectively, although some scientists have postulated changes at the genetic level within the carrier mouse species which made them less suitable as hosts for the virus.
Later outbreaks, while severely damaging, took place on a more localised scale as compared to the initial catastrophic assault; the largest single instance was probably the outbreak of 1712-13 in Zemay, which had a mortality rate of around 20%.