Editing Nobledark Imperium Imperial Society and Culture (section)

=== Plague and the Imperium ===

The Long War has a great many fronts. Far from the worlds where cannons crash and thunder, on worlds which have never known the touch of insidious cults, even there the war rages. For the enemy is one as old as life itself, present almost everywhere protein chains dare self-replicate:

Plague. 

The overwhelming majority of diseases are not directly influenced by Grandfather Nurgle's hand; even the creativity of a god can hardly match the sheer breadth and depth of evolution across a hundred million worlds. Still, the fruits of his cauldron are numerous. And just as a mortal follower of chaos may be elevated for monumental deeds, a particularly slaughterous mundane disease may find itself suddenly surging with warp-given power. 

Public health is never far from the minds of the Imperium's decision-makers; an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and the best way to fight Nurgle's plagues is to prevent them from taking hold in the first place. On the worlds of the Mechanicus, medical servitors stalk the corridors, mosquito-like tendrils lancing out to take blood samples from random passersby for analysis. Quarantine gates divide hive worlds into thousands of segments, ready to slam down in the event that an epidemic is detected, sacrificing the few to save the many. Starships demand everyone boarding to submit to a full exam to prevent the spread of disease between worlds; stowaways are reviled as potential disease vectors. Thousands of varieties of animal are trained to sniff out ill health, with Biologis breeders splicing in new genes for ever greater sensitivities. Propaganda campaigns exhort citizens to wash their hands frequently, sanitize surfaces, check with a doctor for even slight fever or flu. Face masks and latex gloves are profitable businesses. Most bodies are cremated.

Where prevention fails, treatment steps in. The Biologis, the Orders Hospitaller, and thousands of smaller organizations across the Imperium work to develop cures and vaccines for thousands of mundane diseases. For supernatural diseases, the many devotees of Isha — both human and eldar — are frequently fighting even these back. At least in the early stages of infection. Where all else fails, the Imperium does its best to ease the victim's suffering. Sometimes via a cyanide pill.

And when things get really bad, there's always the Imperial Guard and their flamers. 

At times, these methods are overzealous. Entire hives basically shut down over flu season, and perfectly healthy people are quarantined for weeks or months of observation for a case of the sniffles. People get used to invasive random checks. Like the TSA, except the TSA doesn't demand blood or urine samples. 

All too often, they are not nearly enough. As the long roll of dead worlds attests.