The Sixth Plague

The sixth plague was a biological weapon employed by the Sino-Korean Empire during their invasion of the middle east in 2169, leaving millions dead and causing a mass exodus among the survivors.

The weapon
The name of the virus stems from it's most prominent symptoms, boils and lesions manifesting itself on the skin. People infected also experience fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and severe headaches. It quickly progresses, completely shutting down the infected's immune system, with opportunistic infections eventually becoming fatal. The precise time it takes for the virus to kill varies greatly because it is not the virus itself but secondary infections that kill the host, but most cases survive no more than a week. Transmition can occur airborne as well as through liquids or physical contact.

History
The sixth plague was first and last used shortly before the Sino-Korean invasion of the Middle East. Within a few weeks, more than two thirds of the population had either died or been infected. Those that managed to survive long enough fled towards Europe and Africa, though strict quarantine controls prevented them from entering either major European cities or the UAR, so refugees set off towards New America on primitive Boats. Due to the duration of the trip, the few ships containing infected refugees were completely eliminated and the plague was not introduced to New America.

Repercussions
The refugees arriving in New America chose to settle in an abandoned Washington D.C., founding the town of New Basra in it's remains. The threat of a unified and possibly hostile Sino-Korean Empire contributed to the corporate alliance known as the GTC.