Isla Sorna (3.5e Campaign Setting)/Diseases

DX (Prions)
Prions are the simplest disease-causing entities known, even simpler than viruses. They are protein fragments. They are so simple they can't even invade a body. They have to be passively ingested.

The Dinosaurs on Isla Sorna developed a prion disease called DX, from a bad batch of sheep protein extract. The dinosaurs were being fed sheep's milk. The prions are excreted in feces. The Compys were scavengers used on the island as waste management; they spread the protein over carcasses, and other scavengers became infected. Eventually all the Raptors were infected. Raptors attack healthy animals, not always successfully. One bite and the animal becomes infected.

It took a decade for the Winged Raptors to overcome this disease, but they must always be cautious. Prey that has scars from previous attacks are ignored, the Compys are never eaten, and the raptors never kill other predators with their mouths. Still, there is always a chance of becoming infected.

Whenever anything from the island is eaten, there is a 10% chance of infection. The disease causes slow madness, and eventual death. The only cure requires a forester, a shaman, and a mystic to work together, to isolate the prions in the infected raptor's body and remove them.