Red Boils

From SFWiki

The Red Boils is the name of a particularly intense plague that struck Aquitania in the summer of 722 PR. It was responsible for the deaths of 80% of the population of that island.

The Red Boils killed quickly (usually five days), during which time the victim suffered uncontrollable muscle cramps and broke out in suppurating sores. Before death, the afflicted generally went insane from the pain. The disease was so virulent that it seemed that simply coming near an infected person during their agony was enough to contract the Boils. Sea salt made the infection progress faster, to the point where an infected person who stepped foot on a ship would be dead, along with the rest of the crew, before the next sunrise.

The first cases of the Red Boils appeared in Lyon in the summer of 722 PR. The epidemic quickly passed through the entire island of Aquitania and was responsible for killing 80% of the island's population by November of that year. Coupled with the Siècle de Sang, the result was devastating. The one mercy was that the progression of the disease was fast enough to ravage any ship before it could reach another island, as the plague stayed contained.