Horse Scallops
One of the more uncommon diseases you will hear about, Horse Scallops is a painful condition that often requires amputation and, if left unchecked, will lead to an early death. It is named "the soldier's plague" due to the fact that mostly soldiers die because of the disease, as getting it requires eating horse meat. The most recent outbreak happened during the Anti-Sorcery Wars that marked the dark years of the fall of Old Medeean Empire; during these wars, soldiers who ran out of rations were often forced to kill the weakest horses they had in order to have anything to eat. Since the disease primarily targets muscle tissue, the weakest horses were more often than not infected, which created a vicious cycle that could bring a small army to its knees.
Transmission & Vectors
Horse Scallops spreads via the Vergaten parasite, a very small worm-like creature that targets grass-eating animals, specifically horses. The parasite will infect the digestive tract in its first stage, feeding and leaving behind larvae that will be eliminated inside feces. The parasite will begin eating away at the animal, burrowing through tissue until it finds a muscle; at that point, it will consume and grow, leaving behind a greenish ooze as excrement.
The disease can spread to other animals (and even people) through contaminated horse meat - the Vergaten parasite infecting the horse is resistant to heat and can survive grilling and other forms of over-the-fire cooking. After being ingested, the parasite will attempt to leave the digestive tract and carve a minuscule tunnel until it reaches the muscle layer.
The disease can theoretically spread up the food chain any number of times, as long as there are predators willing to eat the carcass of an infected specimen. However, due to the visible indications of the infection on the body of the prey, most predators will avoid eating the infected carrion if possible. The only animals that will consume the infected meat, and only if there are no other food sources available, are carrion-eaters such as hawks or hyennas.
Symptoms
The earliest symptom is mild digestive discomfort, a slight feeling of pain that will disappear as soon as the parasite begins its burrowing phase. At that point, the stomachache will be replaced by a growing pain coming from a muscle (most often in the abdomen area). As the parasite continues to feed, the host will develop a green, almost circular bruise-looking markings underneath the skin, where the muscle tissue is affected - the form is said to resemble that of cooked scallops, hence the name. If left untreated, the disease may lead to internal bleeding, muscle deterioration and organ failure in some cases. The development of the disease takes a long time, and the pain is excruciating.
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