Colonization efforts halted by outbreak of Anchilles fever

VURAL IX — Federation efforts to establish a colony on Vural III have suffered a major setback as the construction team slowly recovers from an outbreak of Anchilles fever.

An expeditionary team of scientists has found themselves all dressed up with nowhere to go as an outbreak of the dreaded Anchilles fever has grounded their mission before it could begin. The scientists, along with a team of construction workers, had been tasked by Federation leaders to establish a colony on the Class K planet of Vural III through the use of pressure domes and were due to travel some days ago from their base on Vural IX, an already colonized Class M planet in the same system.

“Anchilles fever is a highly contagious and virulent disease, not dissimilar in its symptoms to the bubonic plague that ravaged Earth as recently as the nineteenth century,” said Doctor Rajani of Starfleet Medical. “Sufferers may experience a variety of complaints, including high fever, seizures, general malaise and puss-filled buboes occurring all over the body.”

Incredibly, the scientific contingent of the expedition was spared contraction of the virus when a quick-thinking construction team member recognized the symptoms his colleagues were experiencing and initiated a quarantine protocol built into their complex, which is separated from the science complex.

As yet it is unclear as to how or when the virus was brought into the colony, as the incubation period can last up to two weeks. However, one possible source could be the tropical planet of Pyentes, where at least one construction worker had been vacationing before reporting for duty on Vural IX.

The last notable outbreak of Anchilles fever occurred on Selos III in 2392, when nearly 1.5 million people died from the disease. Though a vaccine has been developed against the infection, it is extremely rare and unable to be replicated easily for mass distribution. The nearly eight-month long Federation Transport Union strike that year delayed shipments of the vaccine and medical supplies to Selos III, which contributed to the high death toll.

Fortunately for the current inhabitants of Vural IX, the vaccine is more readily available since that last outbreak. Doctor Justin Dean, the colony’s on-site physician, has been treating the construction workers with corophizine, felicium, and respiratory support while he awaits the arrival of the actual vaccine from nearby Starbase 174.

“The scenes inside the construction workers’ complex have been difficult to stomach even for a seasoned physician such as myself,” Doctor Dean stated. “Luckily, the outbreak was identified very early, and I have been able to administer some form of treatment to minimize the progression of the disease.”

Early indications are that all members of the construction team should make a full recovery.

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About Jarn Th'Braxa

Jarn Th'Braxa is a journalist for the Federation News Service. Born into an Andorian military family, he currently resides on Earth, but he enjoys traveling far and wide in order to report on various stories throughout the Federation and sometimes beyond.

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