Empire Flu

Empire Flu is a serious, infectious disease in the world of Babylon.

History
Empire Flu first cropped up in a rural area near Bombay (present-day Mumbai) ten years ago. Several small towns were overcome by the disease, although it never spread to a highly populated area. The disease died out on its own, rather than being subdued by any form of cure.

But it cropped up again less than a year later, in the Appalachian Mountains in North America; and once again, in a small village in Germany, eighteen months after that. In total, there have been seven outbreaks; the later outbreaks received more scientific and public notice, as the phenomenon grew more famous and mysterious. All of them subsided on their own in between one to six months, with moderate-to-heavy casualty rates in the affected areas.

Outbreaks, in order:
 * 1) Bombay Area, 1889.
 * 2) Appalachian Mountains, 1889.
 * 3) Rhineland, 1891.
 * 4) Peru, 1892.
 * 5) ??? (forthcoming)
 * 6) ??? (forthcoming)
 * 7) ??? (forthcoming)

Pathology
It is understood that the Flu is caused by a bacterial organism, but how the Empire Flu is transmitted has not yet conclusively been proven. Theories include transmission by airborne spore, waterborne or foodborne bacteria, and blood-to-blood transmission.

Subjects who contract the Flu first experience a period of intense sickness, including vomiting, fever, and physical weakness; after four or five days the initial symptoms subside, and the secondary symptoms take their place.

The secondary stage of the disease is characterized by vivid hallucinations and drastically reduced impulse control; it is this stage's characteristics, and not the primary stage, that have caused the bulk of the casualties resulting from the Flu.

Throughout the course of the disease, and for up to two weeks after recovery, victims present with blood of unusually blue coloration.