I have enough just dealing with what's actually *in* my series; don't compound the problem by adding things that you saw only in your own head, and which exist nowhere in dialogue or in the story. You are adding the template of your own beliefs as an overlay, and seeing this story through it. That ain't my problem. If you see this disease as political, that's your lookout. This show says that ANY attempt to politicize a disease is species-dangerous thinking. Period.

The whole point of the episode is NOT political; it says that if you make a disease political on either side, you're gonna die. You have to set aside all that crap and just Deal With The Problem. The only "side" this episode took was in advocating compassion for those afflicted.

It couldn't be a race we've never seen before, not if it was to have the impact I wanted. It had to be a group that's been with us from the start.

Not correct. The Black Death was fatal to everyone infected by it. It was not, as Drafa, 100% contagious, but it *was* about 90% contagious. The Black Death wiped out *three-quarters of the entire European population*. (Editor's note: not quite true; three-quarters of the population in some areas was wiped out, but the total toll was closer to one quarter -- still pretty devastating. The mortality rate was high, but some people survived and were immune thereafter. It also hit Africa and Asia.)

Roll that around for a while. Three-quarters.

The only thing that saved areas of Europe was that there wasn't as much travel then as today between countries; it was reserved for those with enough money to afford it, which were very few. There were also fewer means of entry; a river and a bridge closed to refugees was often enough to keep people out. There is now MUCH freer travel. Had there been freer travel in the 14th century, it's entirely possible that the entire European population might have been completely eradicated, with those few who might've been immune dying from associated diseases, hunger and other problems caused by the presence of the disease.

One person I spoke with at the CDC (Center for Disease Control) said that, hypothetically speaking, the sudden eruption of a disease like this is possible. How likely depends on various circumstances. There are, for instance, regions in the Amazon and South America where certain kinds of plant and animal life can only be found; and those specific lifeforms can transfer diseases to humans...diseases that literally melt the flesh off your body, or in another case, cause worm-like infestations to burst through the skin covering the entire body. (Let me tell you, researching this was just a whole lotta laughs.) They are *highly* contagious. The only thing that has (so far) prevented a massive outbreak is the fact that by the time you can generally get OUT of these remote areas...you're dead.

A particularly aggressive disease could perform very much like what is described in the episode.