Virally Induced Toxic Allergy Syndrome

Virally Induced Toxic Allergy Syndrome or VITAS is a fictional disease that, in the history of the Shadowrun world, reached pandemic status and claimed billions of lives in two outbreaks, first in 2010 and again in 2022.

The first cases of VITAS were reported in India in 2010 and by the end of the year the disease had killed a quarter of the world's population. VITAS brought with it corresponding levels of panic and desperation, with healthy people resorting to drastic means to stay that way; entire sections of Mexico City were burned as a "safety precaution," in one of the most extreme cases.

The second outbreak in 2022 killed another ten percent of the population. The disease temporarily halted race riots and other violence brought about by conflicts among humans and metahumans.

A para-VITAS outbreak in 2046, believed to be the work of unidentified eco-terrorists, killed 120,000 in Tynesprawl, England.