DP

Chapter 47

"Didn't we already do that? There was nothing particularly odd about it."

Raymond shook his head.

"No, I'm sure there are clues. There must be something in common."

Raymond referred to the basics of epidemiology.

They had to find something in common with the patients.

They visited each of the places where the patients had lived.

"Many of my patients have shabby houses."

"Isn't that to be expected in a poor neighborhood?"

"No, they are especially shabby. Even for the slums."

Even in the slums, there was a disparity between the rich and the poor. Some people lived in reasonably decent houses, while others lived in places where everything had collapsed and it was hard to call home.

"Most of the patients live in ragged houses."

Raymond speculated on one fact.

'Maybe the rats are the pathogen?'

That was a possibility.

The shabbier the house, the more rats would appear.

But there was one point that could not be explained away as being so.

'Is he not spending time in a healthy place?'

The very existence of Rao who was infected with the epidemic.

He lived in a place that had no connection to rats.

"Rao, where did you go before you got sick?"

"It was my first time being assigned as superintendent, so I walked all over the place. It was after a lot of rain, so the ground was damp and I had a hard time..."

The Kingdom of Houston had a lot of rain recently because of the fall season. Especially in the Bay Area, the city was not well maintained and as long as it rained, there were many puddles here and there.

The rag-like houses especially tended to be covered by the rain all over the floor.

"I'm tired of the rain. If you walk a little wrong, your shoes will get wet with poop."

That was after he had heard that much.

'Wait a minute, rain?'

A realization passed through Raymond's head.

'Rats and puddles. Rats and puddles. Could there be a connection?'

At that moment, an idea flashed through Raymond's mind.

'Leptospirosis!'

It was a contagious disease of modern earth that could be contracted if you came into contact with water contaminated with rat excrement.

The current epidemic had a similar pattern of spread to that of leptospirosis.

'No, the clinical aspect is completely different. It's a different disease. Let's think about it. What could possibly be another disease like this?'

Raymond desperately tried to come up with a list of the epidemics prevalent on the continent.

An epidemic that was transmitted by water contaminated with rat excrement and causes fatal hemorrhaging.

Fortunately, one contagious disease surfaced.

'It's Pastin's hemorrhagic disease!'

The Principality of Michelan was the southernmost city of the Union of Free Cities. There was an epidemic that periodically broke out every rainy season!