Commissar
Banned
The Virus That Wrecked America
Part One: Prelude to the Plague and the Virus itself.
Part One: Prelude to the Plague and the Virus itself.
In May of 1920 in the Town of Wolf Point, Montana, Doctor Richard Taffy, who had only been a Doctor for three months, began reporting a strange illness amongst the town's inhabitants since admitting his first patient with the symptoms of it, John Dere.
Through diligent research along with his small staff of four nurses, Dr. Taffy identified the virus and documented the symptoms, their effects and the outbreak that eventually killed 90% of the townsfolk of Wolf Point before a vaccine was developed.
Though Dr. Taffy would eventually succumb to the disease which bears his name, his diligent and thorough reports were instrumental in containing this first outbreak and creating the first of a series of vaccines against the new Taffy Virus.
The virus's source is not yet known, but it has commonly been found in beer, but extensive batch testing has so far failed to find how it gets into beer, though biological warfare has been explored, it was ruled out. That is after an increasingly enraged and desperate FDR ordered Germany hit with weaponized vials of the Taffy Virus in 1944 after it became clear America would never be able to muster the strength to liberate Europe.
The Taffy Virus has a gestational period of three weeks before symptoms occur, and is partially airborne, but dies out after traveling 10 feet through air. Recent Tests with helium have revealed that the virus cannot survive in helium and helium treatment is currently being studied.
Symptoms of the Taffy Virus include cold like symptoms after three weeks. The patient affected by the virus is most infectious at this stage with constant sneezing and coughing. This continues for two weeks before the patient slips into a deep feverish coma as the immune system goes into overdrive. 90% of Patients die within one week of entering the coma from renal failure or recover completely cured of the virus.
The virus is constantly mutating and new vaccines constantly have to be developed to combat this deadly virus along with more rigorous screening and isolation procedures to catch the virus carriers before they can spread it.
Moving on back to the History of the Virus. After the Wolf Point Epidemic had run its course and killed 900 Americans, the virus did not show up again till 1935 when the town of Rocky Station, North Carolina suffered an outbreak that killed 300 people. Due to a cholera outbreak proceeding at the same time in the county, American Red Cross personnel were on hand to document the outbreak, take samples, set up effective quarantine, and thus contain the virus.
It was also confirmed the virus had mutated. FDR was informed of this virus, but given its rarity and the few deaths in comparison it caused as opposed to more traditional disease outbreaks, FDR declined the recommendation to order a mandatory vaccination regime to try and eliminate the virus.
Instead FDR felt the priority should be on eliminating small pox and tuberculosis, which were killing far more people and kept cropping up more often followed by polio.
It was a decision that would eventually come back to haunt FDR and the guilt of his decision would contribute to his decision to escalate to biological warfare against Germany.
After the 1935 Epidemic, the Taffy Virus did not show up again till 1938 when a housewife was admitted into Mercy General Hospital in the outskirts of Spokane, New York for a routine medical exam. Once the virus was identified, the woman who had yet to enter the symptom's phase was quarentined along with her Family on their Farm. Only the woman's five year old daughter survived the coma stage.
This was the last lucky break before the Great Plague struck.
Through diligent research along with his small staff of four nurses, Dr. Taffy identified the virus and documented the symptoms, their effects and the outbreak that eventually killed 90% of the townsfolk of Wolf Point before a vaccine was developed.
Though Dr. Taffy would eventually succumb to the disease which bears his name, his diligent and thorough reports were instrumental in containing this first outbreak and creating the first of a series of vaccines against the new Taffy Virus.
The virus's source is not yet known, but it has commonly been found in beer, but extensive batch testing has so far failed to find how it gets into beer, though biological warfare has been explored, it was ruled out. That is after an increasingly enraged and desperate FDR ordered Germany hit with weaponized vials of the Taffy Virus in 1944 after it became clear America would never be able to muster the strength to liberate Europe.
The Taffy Virus has a gestational period of three weeks before symptoms occur, and is partially airborne, but dies out after traveling 10 feet through air. Recent Tests with helium have revealed that the virus cannot survive in helium and helium treatment is currently being studied.
Symptoms of the Taffy Virus include cold like symptoms after three weeks. The patient affected by the virus is most infectious at this stage with constant sneezing and coughing. This continues for two weeks before the patient slips into a deep feverish coma as the immune system goes into overdrive. 90% of Patients die within one week of entering the coma from renal failure or recover completely cured of the virus.
The virus is constantly mutating and new vaccines constantly have to be developed to combat this deadly virus along with more rigorous screening and isolation procedures to catch the virus carriers before they can spread it.
Moving on back to the History of the Virus. After the Wolf Point Epidemic had run its course and killed 900 Americans, the virus did not show up again till 1935 when the town of Rocky Station, North Carolina suffered an outbreak that killed 300 people. Due to a cholera outbreak proceeding at the same time in the county, American Red Cross personnel were on hand to document the outbreak, take samples, set up effective quarantine, and thus contain the virus.
It was also confirmed the virus had mutated. FDR was informed of this virus, but given its rarity and the few deaths in comparison it caused as opposed to more traditional disease outbreaks, FDR declined the recommendation to order a mandatory vaccination regime to try and eliminate the virus.
Instead FDR felt the priority should be on eliminating small pox and tuberculosis, which were killing far more people and kept cropping up more often followed by polio.
It was a decision that would eventually come back to haunt FDR and the guilt of his decision would contribute to his decision to escalate to biological warfare against Germany.
After the 1935 Epidemic, the Taffy Virus did not show up again till 1938 when a housewife was admitted into Mercy General Hospital in the outskirts of Spokane, New York for a routine medical exam. Once the virus was identified, the woman who had yet to enter the symptom's phase was quarentined along with her Family on their Farm. Only the woman's five year old daughter survived the coma stage.
This was the last lucky break before the Great Plague struck.
