Friday 30 June 2023

Exotic virus

Exotic lands come with their own specific flora and fauna, and viruses. I fell ill with some virus I picked up in P8-BKO, during a visit to the tropical zone of the fouth planet. 

The planet is famous for its blue coffee. Well, famous is an overstatement, these parts of the universe are too far removed from the core regions for anything to be really well-known except big battles. But nevertheless it is the local colonists' claim to fame. The coffee beans contain anthocyanins, the same molecule that turns blueberries, well, blue. However, the bitterness of the brew still overpowers any sweetness that could come from the cyanin. I visited a plantation and brought some coffee home with me. 

The exotic disease specialist at the Lamp's medbay told me that I picked up a mosquito-borne virus, probably during that planetside visit since it's unlikely that these mosquitos would survive in any of the orbital stations. Also, my immune system has never been in contact with this virus, so it wasn't able to respond and the virus could spread. It has a long incubation time: I started to feel the flu-like symptoms a week after my return. And no, I didn't turn blue. 

It is not contagious here since it needs its mosquito host to spread, but I took no risks and stayed in my quarters while I let the illness run its course.