Macropox

A three-dimensional render of a virion of the ζ strain

### Diagnostic method

Based on symptoms and confirmed by polymerase chain reaction or direct genetic reading

### Medication

Macropox-attuned nanomachines, brincidofovir

### Frequency

Rare (as of 2698)

**Macropox** is an infectious disease caused by a novel species of the orthopoxvirus genera of poxviruses known as macropoxvirus. The virus emerged during the beginning of human space colonization from the remnants of the Congolese jungles and caused the subsequent Macropox Pandemic of 2082 on Earth (and to a lesser degree, other areas in the Solar System). However, it has also found a modern root in populations on worlds with subtropical and tropical biomes - namely several planets in Tupã, such as Tupã Prime, Refúgio, and Moñái.

The widespread nature of the macropoxvirus is thanks to its high degree of mutagenicity, which has conferred the various strains of macropox the ability to survive up until the most powerful of antivirals or nanomachines are administered, and has also rendered many archaic vaccines useless. Macropox has also been implicated in its usage as a biological warfare weapon, particularly within Tupã Prime on both sides of the Bernauerstad Independence War.

Macropoxvirus can best be described as an orthopoxvirus that may have genetic origin as a major mutation of monkeypox, which is a virus that had caused major epidemics in West and Central Africa during the 20th and 21st centuries, in addition to appearing in the Western world in lesser amounts. The onset of the 22nd century and the increase of globalization, in addition to the increase of mutagens in the environment through pollutants (or the aftereffects of genetic engineering in virus reservoirs, or on viruses themselves) had created a perfect opportunity for novel viruses to arise. Macropox first appeared in the West African Federation in 2074, near to the beginning of the Second Martian-Terran War. The war's large economic burden on Earth and the United Nations in particular meant that resources could not be effectively allocated to West Africa to combat the spread of macropox in full, leaving the virus to propagate and mutate as time went on.

The end of the Second Martian-Terran War did not bring immediate relief to Africa, however, as by 2078 the virus was now present in Central and Southern African populations, signaling a key transition to a pandemic state. In 2081, macropox had suddenly mutated, and a specific strain known as **MaPV-β-6** (descended from the beta lineage of macropox viruses) gained worldwide attention when it rapidly spread to populations in South, Southeastern, and East Asia, in addition to metropoles in Europe and the Americas. This began the Macropox Pandemic of 2082, which lasted for four years until the biotechnology corporation known as VITALIS were able to develop the first nanomachine and vaccine complement to fight the virus. VITALIS would become the famous Stapleford Group later in history, with this pandemic serving as its springboard towards relevancy.

The Beta-Six strain of macropox would be rendered controlled by 2086.

## Classification

There are numerous different active strains of macropoxvirus as a result of its transport across known human space within the Coalition of Congressional Republics. Six strains have been identified to have persisted through human and animal populations, labelled alpha to zeta strains. The beta strain's MaPV-β-6 was responsible for the pandemic in 2082, but the most threatening current strain is the zeta strain and its MaPV-ζ-10 strain due to having abnormal resistance to antivirals.

Macropox also has the ability to rarely display symptoms reminiscent of viral hemorrhagic fevers, including the induction of hemorrhages across the membranes of the human body, such as the viscera and internal portions of the skin. This type of macropox is almost always lethal.

## Signs and symptoms

### Ordinary

The ordinary forms of the macropox strains almost all share similar symptoms and signs. Within the span of five days, macropox creates the largest pustules out of any known poxvirus, measuring as large as 20-30 millimeters in diameter; these pustules have a tendency to burst, releasing the pus within and contributing to further contact spread. The massive size of these pustules and their rarity to form confluent sheets due to a mixture of skin stretching and differing infectious locations means that "hills" of macropox pustules can be formed, causing intense discomfort.

### Hemorrhagic

Unlike the ordinary type, hemorrhagic macropox induces hemorrhages through the destruction of membrane linings and basal membrane layers of the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and mucus membranes, in addition to rupturing capillaries in the eye in the absence of increased local blood pressure (as seen with subconjunctival hemorrhages, or "bloody eyes").