Drafa Plague

The Drafa Plague is a disease from the fictional Babylon 5 universe that was responsible for the virtual extinction of the Markab race in 2259. This episode follows many points common to the "AIDS episode" dramas usually have once in the series. A deadly disease is discovered (the Drafa Plague), bigotry arises (many other races now fear they will catch it), and sorrow follows (with the death of the Markab race).

The Disease
The Drafa Plague works by inhibiting nerve signals from the brain to the rest of the body. It does this by neutralizing chemicals in the synaptic gap, thus blocking the signals. Without clear direction from the brain as a result of the signals being blocked, the organs lose their ability to function correctly. For those susceptible to infection, the disease is 100% contagious, and if left untreated 100% terminal.

An individual with this disease would experience chronic dizziness, followed by a sore throat and swollen lymph and surface glands. The disease follows with decreased low pressure. Eventually the individual passes out, and dies from the disease shortly after that.

Currently, the only species that can be affected by the disease are those races where their physiology produces specialized cells for the manufacture of neural chemicals used in relays. The two known species that this disease can affect are the Markab, and the pak'ma'ra. The Markab yellow cell and the pak'ma'ra green cell carry out those functions. The plague currently is not capable of affecting species that do not have these specialized cells - such as humans, Minbari, Centauri, and Narn. However, there is a chance that in the future the disease may mutate into a form that could affect species without specialized cells.

The only known cure for the disease is a series of injections in such races that artificially stimulates the production of the specialized cells. Eventually these injections help the body to produce cells that can fight the Drafa Plague.

The First Outbreak
The disease first appeared a number of centuries ago on the island called Drafa on the Markab homeworld. Drafa, like Sodom and Gomorrah on Earth, was a place known for its excesses among the population. The disease proceeded to wipe out the population of the island. By the time those from the mainland arrived, everyone on the island was dead. Those from the mainland believed that the disease had died with those it had infected. As a result, the disease was never researched.

Drafa plague entered a period of dormancy that lasted for several hundred years. The disease was soon named Drafa after the island on which it originated. The Markab society, who were deeply religious, concluded that the disease was sent by the Gods to punish the people of Drafa for their immorality, again like Sodom and Gomorrah. Markabs soon came to believe that moral behavior would keep the disease at bay, so generations of children were told to behave lest the Curse of Drafa came back to haunt them. This rationale was never refuted, causing the future Markab people to believe in it without question.

The New Outbreak
In the Earth year 2258, the first new case of the Drafa Plague occurred on the Markab homeworld. The family was so scandalized by this that they lied about the cause of the man's death. More and more cases began to appear on Markab homeworld. As Markab fled their homeworld to the colonies to avoid catching the disease, they spread the disease to the colonies.

In 2259, the Markab population of Babylon 5 became infected. The infection spread rapidly throughout the Markab population, and began killing its victims. Because it was not known if the disease had the ability to be transmitted between species, Captain Sheridan of Babylon 5 ordered a quarantine of the facility.

Dr. Stephen Franklin immediately began medical research. Shortly after beginning his research, he confirmed that the disease could move between species when a pak'ma'ra was found dead from the disease. Further research found that the disease only attacked species that had the specialized cells, and he found a way to help the bodies of those infected to fight off the disease.

However, his efforts were too late for the Markab people. The disease had spread through the Markab race, both on their homeworld and in the colonies. Ships sent to their homeworld and colony worlds found the entire population dead. News reports stated that there may be a few Markab survivors in isolated areas, but that for all intents and purposes, the Markab are a dead race. Some claim that the Vorlons were the ones who created the plague but these may have been simple rumours and stories spread by the ignorant.

Other races began to strip the Markab homeworld bare. When Captain Sheridan blew up the nearby jumpgate in order to destroy a Shadow vessel that was pursuing him, the effect of ending the "grave robbing" was considered a bonus.