Zombie

The original nightmare plague, inspiration for hordes of similar diseases, enchantments, curses, and medicine, the zombie bacteria (furthermore: Dreviana) has eradicated civilizations since they have begun. Despite having coexisted with civilization for so long, the bacteria itself is poorly understood. When the disease pops up in an area, there is very little time to contain it before it can be studied. The most common tactic across the globe is a fast-acting quarantine and siege technique, with a salted-earth approach if that is not feasible.   Every species has it's own variation of dreviana, making it more difficult to spread in multi-racial settlements, but victims of the plague will attack any animals, regardless of species, when inflicted. Hosts to the bacteria will quickly succumb to the disease before being reanimated for a short duration to attack all local life.  

Symptoms and Progression

Patients of dreviana will experience two phases of the virus. The first phase exists while they are still alive, with symptoms rapidly getting worse before death. In death, the brain will rapidly deteriorate, the infection destroying significant portions of the tissue. As Phase 2 begins, the body will begin moving once more, then the host will begin looking for and attacking the uninfected.   Phase 1
2-6 Hours
The very first symptom is difficulty breathing and shortness of breath. The patient will have a fever and begin sweating profusely. Soon after, dizziness, confusion, vomiting, and muscle cramps will begin. Patients will often have difficulty moving effectively at this point and will often be put to bed or taken to a hospital if with others. The patient may begin to slip in and out of consciousness as they experience bleeding from their nose, eyes, and mouth. Shortly after sudden organ failure will strike, and they will pass away.   Reanimation
2 minutes - 30 hours
The body will be in a state of anabiosis. They will be medically dead, unable to be resuscitated, but their will still be some minor electrical activity occurring inside. This is the safest, most humane point to eradicate the infections host, but many will hold hope that they may still be alive. The average time for reanimation is 20 minutes, but there have been cases with as long as 30 hours. In some unfortunate cases, the victim will reanimate before those nearby realize what is happening.   Phase 2
1-8 days
The bacteria will override the host's Shell of Will, reanimating the body and making it an aggressive machine. Many portrayals of zombies tend to show the necromantic types, a slow, dumb creature that never seems to stop. True dreviana zombies are typically as fast, if less agile, than they were in real life, often appearing faster and stronger as they ignore any internal limits to prevent harm.   Another misunderstood concept is with eating. Many depictions show zombies as an eternally hungry horde of the undead, forever wanting more food, but in truth, the dreviana will only consume flesh by accident. They will attack victims with their hands, feet, and teeth in a primitive, almost animal fashion. They spread the bacteria in this fashion, with hosts that die in the short time before the bacteria infects them being potential hosts.   The body requires energy, and will slowly consume itself internally, until nothing remains. This is greatly determined by the hosts condition upon reanimation. Many only last a couple days, sometimes hours for those attacked by a horde. The most well preserved cannot survive a full week.  

Research and Treatment

Studying dreviana has proven to be difficult for most labs. Hosts are usually too dangerous to study for long and in permanent death, the bacteria quickly succumbs to the environment. So much about the disease is a mystery that there isn't even a known cause of sudden outbreaks.   Research still continues, and an international agreement has been established to study the problem. Any new research performed will be shared universally, even in the rare cases that a corporation or individual has discovered something new. While curing an inflicted would be difficult even with a cure, the rapid spreading of the disease makes it a high priority for international health.