                               Concept : Plague

 Plague is used in Empire to symbolize all forms of disease and  is  the  only
viral  health hazard associated with the Empire game (ignoring it's effects on
the players).  The characteristics of plague are, therefore, a  compromise  of
disease features (or bugs).

The Empire Plague takes between 96 and 189 time units to  run  its  course  on
land, (i.e., 2 to 4 days in any particular sector if an Empire time unit is 30
minutes) and twice as long on ships, (4 to 8 days).  In so  doing  the  plague
goes through three stages:

Stage I -- The gestation or incubation phase  in  which  no  symptoms  appear.
   Sectors or ships that are in this stage of the plague are indistinguishable
   from healthy sectors or ships.  This stage lasts 32 to 63 time units, (typ-
   ically less than a day and a half).

Stage II -- The infectious phase in which the symptoms first appear --  orange
   blotches  on  the  face and hands, sometimes accompanied by grey stripes on
   the genitalia, itching of the liver and spleen, an uncontrollable  fear  of
   ripe   tomatoes,   etc.    During   this  phase  the  plague  is  extremely

                               Concept : Plague

   communicable; for example, a simple delivery from an infectious sector will
   infect  the  destination sector.  Even seemingly sheltered adjacent sectors
   have a 10% chance of contracting the disease merely because of their  prox-
   imity.

Stage III -- The terminal phase in which people die, often in the act of flee-
   ing  from  (real  or  imagined)  tomatoes.  In an unprotected location, the
   number of people that die is roughly inversely proportional to the research
   level  of  the  country (plus 100).  Lives can be protected by the insuring
   that the location contains an adequate supply of vaccine  (see  `info  pro-
   ducts')  for the duration of this stage.  Each unit of vaccine will prevent
   10 deaths.  Innoculations are given first to civilians, then  to  military,
   and lastly to uncompensated workers.

All three phases are of roughly equal average duration, (about 48 time periods
or 1 day).

                               Concept : Plague

You can track the spread of plague on a map by using the `sect'  command  with
the `?pstage' option.  For example,

   [##:##] Command: sect #1 ?pstage=1

will produce a map with all  terminal  phase  sectors  highlighted.   Possible
values for `pstage' are:

        pstage  means that
        ------  ----------------------------------------------
           0    sector is healthy
           1    plague is in terminal phase (people are dying)
           2    plague is in infectious stage
           3    plague is in incubation phase
           4    sector has been exposed

                               Concept : Plague

Plague usually arises in countries with  high  technological  development  and
comparatively little medical research.  It arises specifically in sectors with
high population density and low efficiency.

Recently archaeologists have uncovered a treatise by a  Dr. M. Welby  entitled
Demographic considerations and the Empire Plague.  In part it states:

It appeared that our original hypothesis
based on the high percentage of Lumbagan Legionnaires
among the afflicted had led us down a blind alley
and that if we were to solve this complex puzzle
before the end of the series in the spring
possibly a reference to the series of tests
leading to the mysterious Neilson Rating
we would have to turn to other disciplines for help.
It was only by the merest lucky coincidence
that as I drove home one evening ...
here Dr. Welby relates an amusing anecdote
about a Brownie Scout and the director of a film

                               Concept : Plague

entitled Close Encounters of the Third Grade ...
leading us to the following amazing formulation
of the relationship between medical research,
technology, population, standard of living and the Empire Plague:

   likelihood    civ + mil + uw     t_level + (iron + oil) / 10 + 100
       of     =  --------------  *  ---------------------------------
     plague            999            r_level + effic + mobil + 100

Later formulations of this relationship show great similarity to his statement
(see info innards).

Many researchers have commented on the surprising lack of correlation  between
food supply and plague outbreak.

                               Concept : Plague

Fortunately the plague is not infectious during the gestation  stage  so  that
the most effective method for curing plague has been to isolate it by emptying
adjoining sectors during the gestation period.

See also : innards, research, sector-types, technology

