list of fictional diseases list of fictional diseases diseases, disorders, infections, and pathogens have appeared in fiction as part of a major plot or thematic importance. they may be fictional psychological disorders, magical, from mythological or fantasy settings, have evolved naturally, been genetically modified (most often created as biological weapons), or be any illness that came forth from the (ab)use of technology. this is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources. prince prospero flees the red death. the masque of the red death, picture by roger corman, 1964. in comics and literature name source symptoms alas - acquired lavish altruism syndrome the giving plagueby david brin a bloodborne viral disease that induces a subtle urge in those infected to donate blood, and by psychological association with this act causing a general increase in altruistic behaviour. amps - acquired metastructural pediculosis pontypool changes everythingby tony burgess a "metaphysical, deconstructionist" virus spread by the english language. symptoms begin with palilalia as they repeat certain words (usually terms of endearment), proceeding to full aphasia and finally cannibalistic rage as the affected individual grows insane from an inability to express themselves clearly. andromeda the andromeda strainby michael crichton a rapidly mutating alien pathogen that (in its most virulent form) causes near-instantaneous blood-clotting. aria – alien retrograde infectious amnesia the aria trilogyby geoff nelder a plague accidentally contracted from an "alien suitcase". symptoms appear to be non-specific fever-like symptoms and retrograde amnesia. atlantis complex artemis fowl: the atlantis complexby eoin colfer a psychosis common in guilt ridden fairies, but is contracted by artemis by his dabbling in fairy magic. the symptoms include obsessive compulsive behavior, paranoia, multiple personality disorder, and in his case professing his love to holly short. bazi plague the gor seriesby john norman bazi plague is a deadly, rapidly spreading disease with no known cure. its symptoms include pustules that appear all over the body, and a yellowing of the whites of the eyes. black trump virus wild cards by george r. r. martinwild cards by george r. r. martin the black trump virus is a variant of xenovirus takis-b. rather than a cure, this retrovirus was designed to kill aces, jokers, latents, and wild card carriers. dr. tachyon's original trump virus was designed to turn wild carders back into nats (a slang term for naturals), those who do not carry xenovirus takis-a in their system. bloodfire blood nation a virus that gestated in wolves two thousand years ago. the first to be infected was genghis khan. it causes the symptoms usually associated with vampirism, photosensitivity and invincibility. the entire nation of russia is infected, except for a few feral children. the virus can cause extreme mutation, for example the snake's tail present in the khan's head scientist. brainpox "cobra" the cobra event a genetically engineered recombinant virus made from the nuclear polyhedrosis virus, the rhinovirus, and smallpox. it causes nightmares, fever, chills, runny nose, encephalitis (brain swelling), and herpes-like boils in the mouth and genitals, followed by a short period of aggression and autocannibalism preceding death. used as a bioterror weapon. buscard's murrain a.k.a. wormword "entry taken from a medical encyclopaedia" by china miéville an echolalia-like disease in which a specific pronunciation of a certain word—the "wormword"—leads to fatally degenerative cognitive ability as a result of an encephalopathy. buscard's murrain is infectious, as the afflicted desire to hear others pronounce the wormword. captain trips ("superflu", "tube neck", and "project blue") standthe standby stephen king a deadly, flu-based virus. created as a biological weapon codenamed blue. causes a lethally high fever and is highly contagious. it is deadly because as the body fights off the disease, it mutates into different strains of influenza, making immunity next to impossible. chivrel dray prescot seriesby kenneth bulmer those affected experience premature extreme aging. clone-killing nanovirus star wars republic commando: hard contactby karen traviss a nanovirus developed by the confederacy of independent systems designed specifically to kill the clones of jango fett. its creator, ovolot qail uthan, is captured by republic commandos before her research is complete, however. in later books in the series, it is revealed (though not to any of the main characters, but to the reader through both palpatine's and dr. uthan's private journals), chancellor palpatine secretly chooses not to completely destroy all evidence or research of the virus, but rather opts to hold onto it as a back-up plan, should the clone army ever be turned against him. collins' syndrome the legend of deathwalker by david gemmell a mutating disease that often starts with pain and sensitivity in the affected's nipples, then forms a temporary tumor in the brain as it feeds upon the genetic material of the brain cells, sapping away their critical thinking skills and intelligence, once it reaches its critical density, the tumor disbands into the bloodstream, the virus going into a form of hibernation, leaving its victim in a state of near absolute uselessness. once the virus detects that it has entered a new host due to differences in protein markers of the victims cells, the process begins again. gray brittle death the colour out of space by h. p. lovecraft a disease caused by infection with an alien entity called "the colour" by characters in the story, the disease affects anything living, including plants, insects, livestock, wild animals, and humans. symptoms in plants include either stunting or growing abnormally large with much tasteless fruit and growing abnormally-shaped flowers and leaves followed by glowing in the dark with an indescribable color and finally losing their leaves and crumbling to gray dust. insects become strangely bloated and oddly shaped before crumbling into grey dust. livestock such as hogs grow abnormally large with tasteless meat before wasting away and crumbling to grey dust, while cattle and horses exhibit strange behavior followed by crumbling into a grey powder. in some of the wild animals, the disease causes animals to leave "strange footprints in the snow" that are recognizable as known animals but are off in anatomy and behavior, and rabbits have abnormally long strides. in humans, the disease causes its victims to slowly go insane and see things that are not there, talk incoherently, experience memory loss followed by walking on all fours. the victim then begins glowing in the dark with an indescribable color and becoming increasingly weak and thin before crumbling to grey dust. human with the condition describe "being drained of something" or "having the life sucked out". cooties various a term used by children in the united states, with varied meaning. "cooties" generally refers to an invisible germ, bug, or microscopic monster, transferred by skin to skin contact, usually with a member of the opposite sex. coreopsis the secret life of walter mitty by james thurber used by surgeon dr. renshaw, presumably referring to some complication of the critical surgery in progress in the second of mitty's fantasies in the 1939 story. '"coreopsis has set in," said renshaw nervously. "if you would take over, mitty?"'. coreopsis is actually the name of a genus of flowering plants native to north, central, and south america. curse of the warmbloods the underland chronicles by suzanne collins a disease created by doctor neveeve in the city of regalia. she gave the disease to fleas, which instead of getting infected, spread the disease around warm-blooded creatures, including people. symptoms include purple blemishes, coughing, choking, and a swelled tongue. the cure was originally believed to be a plant named starshade, though the true cure was made in regalia. crossed virus crossed by garth ennis a disease that transforms its victims into homicidal psychopaths who rape, kill and mutilate any living being in their sight or each other if there is nothing else to feast on. individuals infected by the virus are marked by their distinctive red crosses. dar-kosis gorby john norman dar-kosis is a virulent, horrible, wasting disease and is similar in many ways to leprosy. it is taught by the initiates (who claim to be the voice of the priest-kings of gor) that dar-kosis is a holy disease. death stench gyo by junji ito a virus designed by the imperial japanese army during wwii, it was designed to be paired up with mechanical walking machines to carry infected hosts further towards enemies to be sickened. the death stench was let loose on japan when the ship carrying the prototypes was destroyed by allied aircraft; the virus then began multiplying, synthesising new walking machines by harvesting iron from shipwrecks until the present day, when large quantities of infected sea life began invading the kanto region. the death stench disease causes its hosts - which can range from fish to humans and other large mammals - to visibly bloat, and begin producing large quantities of gas containing the virus; when attached to a walking machine, this gas powers the machine's legs, which will remain active until its victim decays away and is no longer able to produce enough gas to make the machine move. it appears that the virus is airborne, although it can also be contracted via being attached to a vacant walking machine; amputating a limb that has become attached to a smaller walking machine is the only way to escape, and even then the machine will still use the limb as a 'power source'. demon pox the infernal devicesby cassandra clare demon pox, also known as astriola, is a rare but debilitating disease that affects shadowhunters and is caused by sexual contact with demons. mundanes are immune to the disease, as demon pox is assumed to be caused by the interaction of demon poisons with the angelic nature of shadowhunters. descolada speaker for the deadby orson scott card a quasi-conscious self-modifying organism capable of infecting any form of life. "descolada" is also the portuguese word for "unglued". in the context of the book, this refers to the descolada virus's effects: it breaks the link of the dna double helix (ungluing it) and induces mutations. despotellis green lantern corps a sentient virus and a member of the sinestro corps. it could create non-sentient duplicates of itself creating a plague capable of killing infected victims within minutes, and can also destroy these duplicates, leaving no trace of their presence. among the victims of its plague was kyle rayner's mother. devotion zombiecorns by john green a disease caused by the genetically engineered corn strain d131y which turns the victim into a mindless zombie-like creatures called "z"s. called devotion because its victims only want to plant d131y and convert all humans to zs to further the spread of the corn. diseasemaker's croup fragile things by neil gaiman a disorder 'afflicting those who habitually and pathologically catalogue and construct diseases.' it is characterized by increasingly nonsensical speech and writing patterns and an obsessive insistence on trying to repeat previous statements out of context. donkey fever the adventures of pinocchio by carlo collodi a disease caused by the land of toys when the children who visit there do not listen. dragon pox the harry potter seriesby j.k. rowling dragon pox is a potentially fatal contagious disease that occurs in wizards and witches. its symptoms are presumably similar to muggle illnesses like smallpox and chicken pox. however, in addition to leaving the victim's skin pockmarked, dragon pox causes a lasting greenish tinge. simpler cases present with a green-and-purple rash between the toes and sparks coming out of the nostrils when the patient sneezes. elderly patients are apparently more susceptible to dragon pox than younger ones. gunhilda of gorsemoor developed a cure for dragon pox, but the disease has not been completely eradicated, as is evidenced by the fact that it is still treated by the magical bugs ward at st. mungo's hospital. dryditch fever salamandastron by brian jacques a deadly disease causing weakness, hot flashes, chills, and dizziness. the victim is usually bedridden until eventual death. the only known cure are flowers of icetor boiled in spring water. dx the lost worldby michael crichton an unknown prion dubbed "dx" by scientists on isla sorna. it is similar to mad cow disease and was the result of feeding ground-up sheep to carnivorous dinosaurs. dx increased the mortality rate of newborn dinosaurs and is eventually fatal to adult dinosaurs. in order