Chapter 356. Human mad cow disease (1)
“Isn’t that strange?”
Heonje tilted his head all the time.
The first thing Hwabu did after taking control of the imperial palace was no different from what Jojo did.
He filled the vacancy of office with his own people, re-established the company and the head of each region as his own people, and sent warnings and excommunications to others.
However, as time passed, something different from Jojo appeared.
Basically, the fireman does not wear a sword when meeting himself.
And the eyes looking at you are gentle. He treated himself with warm eyes that were not much different from the first time he saw him as a member of parliament.
“How are you today?”
“Hum-hum, it’s okay. How could Jim get sick when the name of the world takes care of him every day?”
“It is overrated. However, Your Majesty is now in a very weak condition. You must be respectful.”
The painter always checks his health, puts acupuncture on his own, and instructs his disciples to make decoctions.
Should we see this in a pretentious guise? Or should I see it in its true form?
I couldn’t figure out why the person who would become the great empress if it was a fake look and a horribly double person, and if it was a sincere look.
No matter how hard Heonje tried, no answer came out, so he honestly asked the fireman.
“Looking at how much Father Hua is doing, do you think he is someone who has no intention of becoming emperor by giving me the bowie?”
Heonje’s straightforward question was met with a momentary hesitation.
“Your Majesty might be disappointed if I answer honestly.”
“Now that I am in this situation, what could be more disappointing?”
“Please don’t be too pessimistic about Your Majesty’s situation.”
“…..”
“Actually, I don’t have much desire to become emperor.”
“what? Then why did you build such a big power and support me? Are you really saying that you will follow me with all your heart?”
Heonje was a man who couldn’t even squeak in front of Jojo or Madang, but for some reason he fired at the fireman like a man who had let go of his lifeline.
“The reason I came to power was, first, to protect myself and my family, and second, to bring an end to this lasting war as soon as possible, where feudal lords rose up and fought. As your Majesty knows, what am I going to do with the throne transferred to me, who has no heirs?”
“Husaya, can’t we just make it now?”
“It’s not that I don’t have a desire to see the heir, but that doesn’t mean I want to leave His Majesty’s place.”
“It’s not that you’re going to be loyal to me, and I’m not asking you to cede the throne. I don’t understand.”
“There is nothing complicated about it. I wish the war would end soon and the people would stop dying. Because that’s the only one. Well, if there is one more small wish, I do not know who will become the emperor, but I want the emperor to be the one who cares for the people without being swayed by treacherous officials or eunuchs.”
“Can’t you do that yourself?”
“If there is no Jung person, I should do it, but I just live as a member of the council. So you have to find someone better than me.”
“Master, I have prepared a decoction of decoction.”
At that time, I heard the voice of my disciple Obo outside. The Emperor tried to say something more to the fireman, but closed his mouth.
“Bring it in.”
“yes.”
When Obo brought a bowl of medicine and presented it to the emperor, the emperor gulped down in one gulp and smiled bitterly.
“Why do you think the medicine is more bitter than last time?”
“It seems that the empty stomach has been replenished a little, so it’s because I took out a few medicines.”
“Yeah, but these days, my appetite has come to life a little.”
When the emperor put down the medicine bowl, Ohbo took it and stepped back. The painter asked about such a misinformation.
“Look.”
“Your master.”
“How come you don’t look good, are you worried about something?”
Obo glanced at the emperor and opened his mouth.
“There are many patients with similar diseases among the recently converted soldiers of Xiliang, so we are looking for causes and treatments, but we are struggling because we can hardly see the way.”
At Obo’s answer, the painter widened his eyes.
Currently, Oh Bo’s skills are as good as his own, and there are few diseases that he cannot cure.
“What are your symptoms, but you can’t figure out the cause?”
“There are many soldiers who often tremble and have trouble understanding words due to poor pronunciation, making them anxious. Even after trying various decoctions and using acupuncture, the symptoms seldom improve.”
“A lot of people show those symptoms?”
“yes. I thought it might be an infectious disease, so I’m isolating it to one side and treating it.”
“If it is an epidemic… it must be dealt with before it spreads. What symptoms did the aggravated ones show?”
“The tremor is getting worse and some patients with worsening symptoms are not able to move well.”
“There seems to be a problem with the nervous system, but I’ll have to go and see for myself.”
The fireman’s heart quickened.
“Your Majesty’s convictions will go away.”
Having already been through several epidemics, I knew that they were more terrible than war.
We had to find a solution ASAP.
“Do it.”
“Yes, then please take care of yourself.”
Hwabu and Obo left the emperor’s residence and went straight to the city council.
* * *
On the way to the City Hall, the painter thought about what kind of disease Obo said had the disease.
‘The convulsions continue and the inability to speak means that the paralysis of the muscles is progressing… Is it a degenerative neurological disease?’
When nerve cells are destroyed, muscles gradually become paralyzed.
When the muscles are paralyzed, the tongue cannot move properly, making it difficult to pronounce.
‘If it’s a surgical disease, it can be treated with surgery, but if it’s a neurological disease… it won’t be easy to treat. I hope you can find the answer easily.’
Doctors are not proficient in all diseases.
Of course, we know more than the general public, but in this era, it was really close to impossible to find the cause of a nervous system disease and create a suitable medicine.
‘I’ll have to bump into it.’
After a while, when I arrived at the city council, I saw the patients Obo said.
“This side is those who show early symptoms, and the other side is those who have worsened symptoms.”
“First, let’s look at those who show early symptoms.”
The painter wore a mask with Obo and wrapped around the outerwear worn during surgery.
“yes.”
About 10 patients stood up and bowed when the fireman appeared.
“Look, boo… I’m going to see Eosa Daebu.”
Hearing the patients’ slurred pronunciation, the painter smiled bitterly and encouraged them to sit comfortably.
Then, one by one, they started examining each other.
When I checked my pulse, my pulse was very unstable, and when I asked him about his symptoms, he showed signs of anxiety, like a dog who wants to poop.
‘War Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?’
A soldier on the battlefield who would kill enemies and pass the risk of dying several times a day. He probably suffered from nightmares even when he was asleep.
‘Stress disorder is suspected, but… the symptoms of anxiety and tremors are too similar to dismiss it that way. Has there ever been an epidemic like this?’
Looking at the similarity of symptoms, it definitely looks like an infectious disease, but upon examination, it did not seem to be an infectious disease.
I can’t feel it at all
The fireman went to the place where those with more severe symptoms were gathered.
The convulsive symptoms were so severe that they could not even properly bow to the fireman.
Even movement is almost impossible.
Most of them were very suicidal and laughed like crazy.
creepy.
Seeing the patients laughing broadly, the painter gave goose bumps to the point that his skin shook.
At the same time, there was one disease name that suddenly came to mind.
‘Ooh, the sickness that leads to death with laughter! I hope not. wouldn’t it? No matter how hungry they are, these many people…’
He tried to deny it, but it was not easy to deny it completely when the cannibalistic culture that had spread secretly at the base of this era came to mind.
The fireman hurried to see where the seriously ill patients were.
When I first touched the muscles, they were almost relaxed, as if I had touched soft tofu.
If the muscles are relaxed to this extent, it becomes difficult to breathe, and even bowel movement almost stops, so even if you eat something, it is not digested and you cannot swallow water.
When water is put into the mouth, it flows into the stomach by gravity, but does not move through peristalsis.
“You have to look inside your mouth, so try it.”
When the patient stayed still despite the fireman’s order, Obo, who was next to him, explained the reason.
“Master, even their jaw muscles are loosened and they cannot open their mouths on their own.”
“If I can’t even open my mouth, I won’t be able to speak.”
“yes.”
“Did they defecate?”
“As for the stool… Come to think of it, none of these people have had a stool yet.”
“Whoa~. Is that too? I hoped it wasn’t…”
“Master, do you know about this disease?”
In response to Obo’s question, the painter looked at the faces of the patients who were smiling broadly even in the midst of dying.
This was almost certain.
A disease that has almost disappeared in the future.
At best, the act of feeding a dead cow to a living cow as fodder would cause the cow to catch it… Mad cow disease. Of course, humans can get mad cow disease if they eat the meat of a diseased cow.
They are suffering from the so-called human mad cow disease, kuru disease.
“They got sick from eating cannibals.”
“yes? Are you a cannibal? Could it be that they ate people and contracted this disease?”
“Yes. In particular, among human body parts, eating the brain increases the chances of getting this disease.”
The painter looked at the dying patients with mixed eyes.
Would they have eaten human meat because it was delicious?
Since there was nothing to eat during the war, even the dead would have eaten.
Eating the dead was in fact common in this era, as some would even eat the living.
However, when a person eats a person, especially the brain, he ingests a substance called prion.
Among the prions, there are aged or modified prions, and when ingested, the normal prion in the brain is changed to a modified prion.
Modified prions are resistant to high temperatures, so they cannot be removed simply by boiling or baking.
And the modified prion destroys brain cells and nerves, causing cranial nerve disease.
Of course, the incubation period of the disease varies from person to person, so some people show symptoms in a few months, while others appear in a few years.
However, once symptoms appear, they die within three months to two years.
At first, it starts with mild tremor, but gradually the tongue loosens, the body trembles, later it becomes impossible to move, suffers from severe depression, suffers from pneumonia or bedsores, and dies with a big smile.
Even advanced future medicine has not been able to develop a cure for kuru disease.
A cursed disease that God has not given any cure to prevent humans from eating humans.
Banning cannibalism is the only solution.
“Master, how should I treat this disease?”
“This disease is incurable.”
“yes? You can’t cure it?”
Obo was taken aback when the hwabu asserted that it could not be cured. The master had seen many diseases so far, but he did not give up until the end, even for patients who were about to die.
But giving up so easily.
“Banning cannibalism is the only prevention.”
The painter turned his head and looked at the dying patients once more with a smile on his face.
“I need to meet with His Majesty the Emperor and have him propose a law banning cannibalism across the country. see.”
“Your master.”
“This is a disease that can be transmitted through wound-to-wound contact. So, isolate everyone and tell the doctors, medical doctors, and medical workers to be especially careful about contact.”
“yes.”
The painter hurried back to the emperor’s quarters.
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