Balkan Blight

Balkan Blight was a major virus that spread from the northern Balkans to areas across the world. It was the cause of the Balkan Blight Pandemic, which was a major pandemic which lasted from 427AD to 430AD. The virus has been cured.

## Balkan Blight Pandemic

### The Beginning

The first cases of Balkan Blight appeared in early 427AD in eastern Slovenia. It was noted early on to be an extremely deadly disease, with antibiotics being ineffective against it. The disease quickly spread across Slovenia, and eventually reached areas in Croatia, Bosnia, Hungary, and Austria. By August of 427AD, most of the Balkans besides Greece and Thrace were affected by Balkan Blight.

The Ottomans managed to temporarily halt the spread of the disease with the declaration of martial law and the usage of military force to prevent its spread further south. The island of Eurobea had a minor outbreak, but the island was quarantined before the disease could spread elsewhere in Greece. This original strain of Balkan Blight would later be named "Alpha", and was the one which spread the farthest.

### Spread of Balkan Blight

Balkan Blight would soon after be discovered to have reached Italy and Algeria. All ports in the empire would be closed after to prevent it from spreading further, but it was too late. Balkan Blight was then discovered to have reached Yemen in Arabia. The area was quarantined and a curfew was established in the rest of Arabia. Soon afterwards, the Philippines, Bharat, and the Qing Dynasty would halt all trade with the Ottomans.

The quarantines would soon collapse, as the disease began to spread through soldiers across the checkpoints. Balkan Blight would rapidly spread across the entire Ottoman Empire. The Sultana was evacuated to the island of Cyprus, which would remain blockaded until the vaccine was created. New strains would appear in Egypt and Mesopotamia, named the E and M Strains.

Various nations would begin attempting to work on a cure for Balkan Blight. Progress would remain slow for some time, as most nations were more focused on curbing its spread. As a result of the quarantines collapsing, people would begin fleeing across the borders of the Ottoman Empire, with some carrying the virus further into Europe and Asia. Although the Kingdom of Armenia established checkpoints of their own, the disease would still spread into their territory. In addition, the American Northeastern Republic sent humanitarian aid workers to the Ottoman Empire.

### Outbreaks in Europe

In the rest of Europe, Balkan Blight spread across all countries on the mainland, with Germany being the first to be infected with Alpha Strain. Both Norway and Sweden had E Strain, while the rest mainly had Alpha Strain. The only areas unaffected by Balkan Blight were the Arctic areas of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Although tensions in Europe were high, most nations avoided war due to the possibility of severe casualties due to the pandemic. Spain was the only nation in Europe to collapse due to it.

### Outbreaks in North America

Balkan Blight would end up reaching the American Northeastern Republic's land after a port worker who had the disease returned to New York City from Europe. The disease quickly spread across the city, and military checkpoints were established around the city and Long Island to prevent it from spreading outwards. The city of Bridgeport would end up being cut in half by the lockdown border.

Riots would break out in some of the cities included inside the lockdown zone, as some of them had no cases of Balkan Blight at the time of its creation. This would ironically lead to the disease spreading faster. Soon afterward, Qikiqtaaluk would close all its ports and borders to prevent the disease spreading to them.

The disease would also spread to the city of Boston further north. The E Strain would appear in the city after a patient was improperly screened. In an attempt to prevent its spread, people who were infected were arrested and killed in the city. However, this would only result in further chaos in the ANR, as riots continued across the country against this practice.

#### Collapse of the American Northeastern Republic

After 101 years of existence, the American Northeastern Republic collapsed as a result of the Balkan Blight, as military checkpoints in New York City and Boston collapsed and the disease rapidly spread across the country. It is unclear how many died afterwards, but many would end up being killed by the military.

Eventually, the president, Daniel Buechel died of Balkan Blight and general Kip Willoughby seized power. He would later be killed, and the nation completely collapsed soon after. The disease was blocked from spreading further into North America by the Appalachian Mountains, although it continued to ravage the former territory of the ANR for some time.

### Collapse of Spain

Alpha Strain would spread to Spain through North Africa. Caudillo Franco would order the killing of people who had been infected with Balkan Blight. This would backfire when Franco himself would be infected with Balkan Blight, and was executed. With a power vacuum, the people would rebel and topple the government, re-establishing the nations that had existed before Spain.

### Outbreak in Perth

Balkan Blight was also detected in Perth, with the strain being the M Strain. The original source was a seafarer who returned from the Ottoman Empire. All of Swania was quickly put into lockdown, with Perth being locked down the most. Due to quick action from the Australian government, the disease did not spread past Perth, and Australia would be one of the few nations to survive unscathed.

### Outbreaks in Asia

In Bharat, the Alpha Strain was the main strain across the country. It would eventually mutate into two new strains. The F Strain appeared in China, while the K Strain appeared in Central Asia. The F Strain was significantly more deadly than other strains, but did not spread as fast. The K Strain spread very fast, but was not very dangerous. Millions of people in Bharat would end up dying from Balkan Blight, mainly in India and China.

After the royal family disappeared after hiding somewhere in Central Asia, the empire would completely collapse. It was the largest nation to collapse due to Balkan Blight.

In the Philippines, a new strain known as the J Strain appeared on the island of Java. The F Strain also spread to the Philippines from China. In Manchuria, the M Strain was the main strain, but it did not spread farther north than central Manchuria due to the harsh climate of Siberia. Kamakura was also affected by Balkan Blight, mainly by the M Strain.

### Other areas

Several ports on the coast of Africa were affected by Balkan Blight. Western Africa was the most affected due to its large population, but Mozambique and South Africa also had outbreaks of the E Strain. Major riots occurred in Mozambique, but they were eventually quelled. There were also outbreaks the northeast of Brazil, which were contained.

### End of the Pandemic

After two years of work, in 429AD, the cure for Balkan Blight was completed in the city of Baku. By the next year, the vaccine had become widely available, and the Balkan Blight Pandemicended a year later. Although there were periodic reappearances of Balkan Blight in some areas, it would never spread across the world again.

The nations who helped create the cure included:

* Ottoman Empire
* Mozambique
* Qikiqtaaluk
* Republic of Sweden
* Kingdom of Armenia
* American Northeastern Republic
* Bharat

### **Disease Distribution**

(**this map will be replaced by a new one**)

**Blue: Nonexistent: there are no confirmed cases**

**Green: Very slight: 1-20 cases.**

**Yellow: Slight: 21- 1000 cases.**

**Orange: Moderate: 1001 - 9500 cases**

**Red: Severe: 9501- 100000 cases.**

**Dark Red: Very Severe: 100001- 1000000 cases.**

**Black- 1000001- 5000000 and over.**

## Balkan Blight Strains

(UNFINISHED)

Alpha Strain; the main strain, it has killed the most and is the most prevalent in the world. Pretty dangerous, good amount of infection rate.

B strain; pretty deadly, more so than Alpha, but transmission is shitty

M strain; literally just a slightly worse flu lol, harmless, nothing to worry about

E strain; it is a combination of Alpha Strain and B strain. Literally the worst case scenario, very deadly, very infectious.

F strain; almost guaranteed death, but transmission is extremely unlikely do to how extremely dogshit it is.

K strain; HYPER infectious, however is about as dangerous as the common cold

J strain; idk about the qualities of this one, ask @Italy - Luca Mancini