Gutfur
Transmission & Vectors
Sea water, sea life, vomit, and fecal matter.
Causes
A parasite.
Symptoms
A voracious appetite combined with a steady, rapid weight loss.
Occasional vomiting.
Gray hairs in vomit and stool. Blood as well, once the illness has reached its terminal stage.
Autopsies have show the victims stomach and large intestines to be coated in patches of slimy, gray fur.
Treatment
A round of penicillin would clear up most cases in no time at all. Regrettably, the drug is known only to a handful of academics in a landlocked nation, far from the oceans where the parasite is most commonly found.
Prognosis
The first sign that you have the parasite is an acute hunger. You’ll be consuming calories at an enormous rate. Eventually the wasting will begin, fat and muscle melting off like snow in spring. Finally, the abdominal pains marking the terminal stage of the illness. A sharp rap on the stomach at this point will rupture abdominal muscles and stomach lining, causing internal bleeding and a painful death.
Affected Groups
Sailors are the most commonly affected, with middle class merchants being a distant second.
Hosts & Carriers
Much of the life in the Southern Seas of Elcadaver, from fly fish, to king shark, to dolorous whale, suffer from the parasite. A least one leviathan was taken with the gray fur covering its insides.
Prevention
Don’t drink seawater. Seems obvious, but shit happens on the high seas.
Avoid contact with vomit and fecal matter. Again, seems obvious, but crew quarters are nasty places.
Cook your fish thoroughly, and throw away their intestines. Can be a problem, as tuna stomachs, stuffed with a mixture of cheese, sauerkraut, and several exotic spices are considered a delicacy among the Brustisch
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