kali , the hindu goddess of death , was known as the goddess of disease ; japan was riddled with plague demons ; the mayans had ak k'ak , who was the god of both disease and war and looked to be a good candidate , considering joshua 's killer started a brawl ; the maori boasted a disease deity for each body part ; the winnebago indians tried to secure blessings from some two-faced god they called disease-giver ; the irish had the plague-bringer caillech ; and in ancient babylon , nergal gave out diseases like they were candy .