In Film
| Name | Source | Symptoms |
|---|---|---|
| Brain Cloud | Joe Versus the Volcano | The brain cloud has no symptoms—apart from quickly and painlessly killing in about six months. |
| ComaThe Coma | PlagueClive Barker's The Plague | Affects all children. Induces a 10-year coma, after which the children simultaneously wake up and desire to kill all adults. |
| Carnosaur virus | Carnosaur | A genetically engineered virus created by Dr. Jane Tiptree. Infects fertile women of child-bearing age (including Dr. Tiptree herself), making them pregnant with a dinosaur. Rather than being born, upon maturation the dinosaurs tear their way out of the womb, killing the woman in the process. |
| Fever"The Fever" | Cabin Fever Cabin fever 2:Spring fever | Necrotizing fasciitis which causes massive hemorrhaging and tissue necrosis. The first symptom of the disease is usually a painful rash, which develops into a scabby or weeping wound. In later stages, tissues become soft and slough away. The initial rash stage can be exacerbated by harsh physical trauma, as was seen when one afflicted woman discovered hand-shaped rashes on her body, where she had recently been tightly held during a passionate sexual encounter. The disease is transmitted when an infected creatures' blood is exposed to a victim's bloodstream (bare skin contact with infectious blood is implied to not result in infection). It can also be contracted through unprotected sexual activity and by drinking contaminated water. The disease spreads cross-species and was initially discovered in a dead dog. Where the dog contracted the disease is unknown. |
| Geostigma | Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children | A disease caused by Jenova's presence in the Lifestream as it rose to destroy Meteor in the ending of Final Fantasy VII. Decreases the efficiency of the body's immune system-like inner Lifestream current. Also causes exhaustion and black sores appearing on the skin. Mostly affects children due to their weaker constitutions. Healed by Aerith Gainsborough's Great Gospel healing rain. "The Stigma. It's a symptom of alien matter infesting the body. The body tries to eliminate it, and overcompensates. Inside our bodies is a current like the Lifestream. That current is what fights off any malevolent intruders." - Vincent Valentine |
| Hemoglophagia (HGV) | Ultraviolet | Disease responsible for turning many humans into vampire-like creatures. Contrary to most vampiral diseases, hemoglophagia drastically shortens the lifespan of an infected individual to little over a decade. |
| The Host's Disease | The Host | The unnamed disease carried by the giant monster terrorizing South Korea. In actuality, there was no virus; the government claimed the monster was spreading a disease just to save face. |
| Infertility epidemic | Children of Men | A mysterious epidemic has led to worldwide infertility in women. The human race has lost the ability to reproduce. |
| Krippin Virus (KV) | I Am Legend | A genetically re-engineered measles virus originally created as a "miracle cure" for cancer, but mutated into a lethal, highly pathogenic strain. KV has a 90% mortality rate; less than 1% of humans are immune. Two transmission vectors for the pathogen are inhalation and infected blood, with two corresponding immunity profiles. Infected humans who did not die began exhibiting early symptoms of rabies and degenerated into a state driven by rage. A major symptom is that the adrenal glands are "permanently open", giving victims increased strength, speed and agility but also a faster metabolism. This results in increased body temperature, heart rate, and breathing speed, making those infected hyperventilate constantly. Pupils became permanently dilated and skin became hypersensitive to UV radiation, forcing infected hosts into a nocturnal life cycle. Loss of body hair is another symptom. Non-humans such as rats and dogs are also susceptible to KV. They are sensitive to blood. These infected are similar to vampires. |
| Lampington's Disease | Last Holiday | In the original 1950 film, the disease seems to have been a tumor in the abdomen (the patient's x-ray is used to indicate something "between the stomach and the small intestine," although a shot of the pelvis is actually being shown). Here, it is an untreatable, terminal condition which is nearly pain-free, but which leads to coma and death within a couple of weeks to a couple of months at the most. It is explained as a recently discovered condition, described by and named for Sir Trevor Lampington, a character who also appears in the plot. In the 2006 remake, the disease has morphed into a neurological disease causing multiple brain tumors, rapidly progressing to death within a few weeks if not treated with an exorbitantly expensive operation. |
| MacGregor's Disease | Batman & Robin | A four stages disease that Mr. Freeze's wife, Nora, was suffering from and placed in cryogenic stasis for. The film also revealed that Batman's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, was also suffering from Stage-1 MacGregor's. Mr. Freeze successfully created the antidote for Stage-1 of the disease, and gave some of it to Batman as an apology for thinking that Batman killed Nora (which was actually a lie fabricated by Poison Ivy). |
| Mad Zombie Disease | Zombieland (film) | The disease which caused people, upon receiving a bite from one of the infected, to become zombies. The disease is a mutation of Mad Cow Disease, which became Mad Human Disease and then mutated to form Mad Zombie Disease. |
| Malignalitaloptereosis | The Sword in the Stone |
A rare disease which causes the victim to break out in spots, followed by hot and cold flashes, then violent sneezing. During the wizard's duel, Merlin had transformed himself into the germ that caused this disease and infected Madam Mim with it. |
| Meningoencephalitis Virus One | Contagion | A highly contagious and lethal meningoencephalitic virus. A paramyxovirus that infects both the lungs and the brain, causing hacking coughs and fever and a severe headache, followed by a seizure, brain hemorrhage and ultimately death. |
| Methuselah Syndrome | Blade Runner | A genetic disease resembling progeria that causes faster aging |
| Motaba | Outbreak | A deadly, virulent Ebola-like virus from the jungles of Zaire. |
| Patriot | The Patriot (1998) | A highly contagious airborne virus which has been stolen from a government biological warfare laboratory. Its early symptoms include a rash, and it is quickly fatal. It is not clear in the film whether the virus was supposed to have been harvested from the wild (such as Ebola) and then grown as a weapon, or whether the laboratory first engineered it in some way. In the film, the leader of a local militia has obtained both the virus and what he believes to be a vaccine for it, and decides to start an epidemic with the virus, believing that he will be safe because he has taken the vaccine. A local doctor of Indian (Native American) ancestry fights to find a cure for it. |
| Rage (Human Cortico-Deficiency Virus) | 28 Days Later 28 Weeks Later |
Rage causes extreme aggression in a victim ten to thirty seconds after being Infected with the disease. The disease is easily transmissible through any bodily fluid, except apparently semen. Because of this extreme contagiousness and very short incubation time, a crowd of hundreds could be infected by one single individual in a manner of minutes. A graphic novel based on the films purports that Rage is a recombinant strain of Ebola, though its symptoms are similar to that of rabies. Animal testing was being performed on the disease but one animal was released by activists unaware of the virus. The infection soon spread to eliminate the entire population of Britain save a few lucky individuals who managed to survive. Infected organisms die out in a few months, succumbing to starvation, since they do not actually eat their victims. They also seem to drool blood constantly. |
| Reaper | Doomsday | Reaper causes effects similar to black plague. It appears in Scotland in the year 2008 and kills most of the inhabitants. Scotland is put under quarantine. Some decades later, Reaper reappears in London. A cure is found several days later, but it is unknown whether or not it will be given to the population. |
| Say the Opposite of What You Mean Disease | Ace Ventura: Pet Detective | A disease which causes the speaker to say the opposite of the correct answer to a question posed by another party. This disease was thought up on the spot by Ace after he realizes that the people in the bar think poorly of Ray Finkle. |
| "Stick It To the Man-Neosis" | School of Rock | Not actually a real disease, but one invented by Dewey to allow his class of budding rockstars into the Battle of the Bands. Dewey's urges to allow the children into the gig was backed up by a very loose explanation that the kids suffered from a "very rare disease" - Stick It To the Man-Neosis |
| Venomous | Venomous | A contagious virus originating in genetically altered poisonous snakes, and spread by contact with infected people. |
| SP-43 | Derailed (2002) | SP-43 is a modified form of smallpox (variola) that has an extremely short incubation period. Its development is part of the back story, which is not completely clear, but given the fact that it appears to have been stolen in Slovakia and is being transported to Munich by a NATO agent, it appears to have been developed by the Czechoslovak government or some other Eastern Block country during the Cold War. |
| Space Dementia | Armageddon | A disease whose symptoms include extreme recklessness (in space) and unlike actual dementia the ability to reference old movies at choice moments. Steve Buscemi's character Rockhound suffered this disease on the asteroid as proclaimed William Fitchner's character Col. Willie Sharp. |
| Space Rabies | Howard the Duck | Disease Howard claims to have in order to intimidate would-be attackers and make an escape. He claims it causes "agonizing death in fifteen seconds". |
| St. Mary's | V for Vendetta | A biological weapon engineered and released by the Norsefire party as a means of clandestinely gaining control over their own country. |
| Synaptic/Neural Overstimulation Syndrome | Repo! The Genetic Opera | A disease of unknown origin that killed roughly ten million people at the beginning of the 21st century in the Repo!-verse. It creates massive organ failure and apparently has no cure. |
| Synaptic Seepage | Johnny Mnemonic | Caused by downloading too much information into the brain. Causes cerebral hemorrhage and data corruption. It kills in approximately three days, and causes intermittent seizures. |
| T-Virus | Resident Evil movies | An artificial virus created by Umbrella. When a human is infected by it, the virus will destroy all cells, killing the host. Among two and four hours, all cells will be revitalized. But the virus will only activate one brain function: the hypothalamus, where feeding is controlled. The host becomes a violent mindless cannibal, and can infect other people by biting. Because of this effect, the virus was called the "cannibal disease". |
| Trixie | The Crazies, The Crazies (remake) | A highly contagious "Rhabdoviridae prototype" biological weapon. Causes those exposed to it to become homicidal. |
| Unknown | Daybreakers | A mysterious plaque spreading like an epidemic, transforms the majority of the world's human population into vampires. |
| Thing cells | ThingThe Thing | Triangle-pyramid viruses that makes up Thing monsters. If it enters another animal, it fuses with every cell of the host, possessing the host entirely. Each infected cell becomes an individual life form with its own desire to survive. An infected cell will seek out other cells to infect with its virus, and will work together with other infected cells to imitate other life forms. Because infected cells can rapidly duplicate and shapeshift, and because dislocated pieces of an infected host will shapeshift and become separate entities, infected hosts can only be killed if every individual cell is destroyed. Finally, hosts retain their knowledge and memories, allowing the virus to perfectly imitate any person and remain undetected. The only effective way of killing the Thing monsters is through incineration, for instance with a flamethrower. |
| (unknown) | Transporter 2 | Created by scientists working for an assassin named Gianni, this unnamed airborne virus kills everyone it infects within 48 hours. The Colombian drug cartel hires Gianni and his minions to use the virus to assassinate Jefferson Billings, the director of the National Drug Control Policy and all of the attendees of a major anti-drug conference. An antidote was also created, just in case, but was retrieved by the Billing Family's personal driver, Frank Martin. |
| (unknown) | What's So Bad About Feeling Good? | A highly contagious virus, carried over from South America via a Toucan, causes intense feelings of giddiness, happiness and kindness in those affected. |
| (unknown, called "Conversationalism" by the film's director) | Pontypool | A contagious disease spread through use of the English language (origin is unknown). The disease initially presents with the repeating of a word or short phrase (usually a term of endearment like "sweetheart"), followed by severe aphasia and confusion, and finally causing a psychotic belief that the only way to solve their problem is to chew out the mouths of other people. By deliberately mismatching words with their meanings, a cure was found. Unfortunately, before the cure could be spread to the public, the town was wiped out by the army in an attempt to stop the spread of the disease. |
Read more about this topic: Fictional Diseases
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