.TH Concept : PLAGUE
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Plague is used in Empire to symbolize all forms of communicable
disease and is the only health hazard associated with the Empire
game.
The characteristics of plague are, therefore, an unavoidable
compromise of disease features (or "bugs").
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The Empire Plague takes between 96 and 189 time periods to
run its course in a particular sector (i.e. 2 to 3.9 days)
and in so doing goes through three stages:
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Stage I -- The gestatory phase in which no symptoms appear.
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Stage II -- The infectious phase in which the symptoms first appear;
blue and orange blotches on the face and hands, sometimes accompanied
by grey stripes on the genitalia, itching of the heart and liver,
an uncontrollable fear of ripe tomatoes, etc.
During this phase the plague is extremely communicable, a simple
delivery of ore from an infectious sector is certain to infect the
destination sector.
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Stage II -- The terminal phase in which almost everybody dies,
usually in the act of fleeing from real or imagined tomatoes.
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All three phases are of roughly equal duration (about 48 time periods or
1 day).
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Plague usually arises in countries with high technological development
and comparatively little medical research and specifically in sectors with
high population and low efficiency.
Dr. M. Welby in his pioneering work "Demographic considerations and
the Empire Plague" wrote:
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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 [probably 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 he relates
an amusing anecdote about a Girl Scout and a film director] ...
leading us to the following amazing formulation of the relationship between
medical research, technology, population, standard of living and
the Empire Plague.
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likelihood    (civ + mil)         (t_level + ore + 100)
    of     =  -----------  *  -------------------------------
  plague          254         (r_level + effic + mobil + 100)
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Later formulations of this relationship show great similarity
to his statement (see info "innards").
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Fortunately the plague is not infectious during the gestatory stage
so that the most effective method for curing plague has been to
isolate it by emptying adjoining sectors during the gestation period.
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See also : innards sector-types technology research
