Red Plague [PATCHED]
Red plague is an accelerated corrosion of copper when plated with silver. After storage or use in high-humidity environment, cuprous oxide forms on the surface of the parts. The corrosion is identifiable by presence of patches of brown-red powder deposit on the exposed copper.
Red Plague
Walgis was one such world, and now they were in desperate straits. The red plague, a highly contagious and swiftly spreading disease, had appeared among the population. Thousands were already dead, tens of thousands infected and suffering, and the disease showed no sign of slowing.
Ever since hearing about the deadly plague, he had tirelessly rallied the doctors at the new medical facilities on Parmentier. He wanted to save those people, even if they were Butlerians. A mob of the anti-technology fanatics had burned down the longstanding Suk Medical School on Salusa Secundus, and they had demonstrated against medical technology, even against basic surgical advances. The zealots considered sophisticated new prosthetics and artificial organs to be abhorrent. They railed against scientific progress that would have increased food production and saved countless lives.
Upon receiving approval from Directeur Venport, Zim rushed back to Parmentier, where his people had been working nonstop to manufacture the vital vaccines and treatments for those afflicted. Despite its virulence, the red plague was an old disease, well recognized and mostly eradicated across human-settled planets. The cure existed; it just needed to be delivered to the sick.
Dr. Zim and his Suk colleagues had created and packaged one hundred thousand doses of the cure. They would need help distributing and administering the vaccines, but his volunteers would teach others, who would in turn teach even more, and perhaps the red plague would be caught and stopped. Once those hundred thousand doses were delivered, the recovered victims would provide the antibodies to cure the rest. Zim wished his team had been able to begin a week sooner.
Some have brushed the issue aside saying that they have never seen it, thus it is not a problem. To put the issue of red plague into perspective, a worst-case estimate suggests as much as 3% of braided silver-plated copper shields have some degree of red plague. Across the aerospace industry, this equates to millions of dollars each year in scraped products, rewiring, and maintenance actions.
Red plague is not a new concern in the aviation and wiring industries. In fact, the issue pre-dated the original March 1965 article, penned by P.L. Anthony and O.M. Brown, which examined causes and outlined conditions for Red Plague evolution. The Red Plague, when visually observed on corroded wires, is identified by either a red or black tarnish, where the red is the cuprous oxide (Cu2O) and the cupric oxide (CuO) appearing black. Silver plating of the copper alloy wire strands inhibits corrosion, although production flaws, handling, environmental factors, and application conditions can alone, or in concert, defeat the inhibition of corrosion.
To help combat the plague, Lectromec employs Fluorine Evolution testing of fluoropolymer insulations to help our clients determine if a wire/cable is prone to promote Red Plague. The test evaluates the off-gassing of fluorine from the insulation in the absence of conductor material. This method measures the concentration of fluorine dissolved in pure water and compare the measured electrical conductivity to the control. The greater the concentration of fluorine dissolved into the aliquot, the greater the build-up of opportunistic corrosive products on the silver plating that promote corrosion of the copper alloy that lies beneath.
The Red Plague was a plague that swept through the city-state of Vesuvia, and much of the world, killing many people. Its name comes from the signature symptom of the sclera of the eyes turning red.
Not many symptoms are known. One of the telltale signs are the sclera of the eyes turning a bright red. In later stages, the area surrounding the eyes also becomes a sickly red shade. Bright red veins appear around the eyes, making it appear as if the eyes are weeping blood. These veins are also prevalent at the extremities of the body. In a flashback during Asra's route, Lucio, who had the plague at the time, has a nasty cough and appears sweaty and gaunt.
Most of the people who catch the plague die in a matter of days or weeks. Lucio was able to survive for months indefinitely before he was 'murdered'. This is thought to be because Lucio himself was the source of the plague.
Lucio unwittingly started the plague when he made a deal with the wyrm of pestilence. Intending to kill his parents, Lucio offered their hearts to the wyrm in exchange for a "foul disease" that he could use to weaken them. The wyrm imbued Lucio with the sickness, which he brought back to his tribe. Both of his parents quickly fell ill, and Lucio killed his weakened father with ease. His mother, however, was able to battle the disease, referring to it simply as a "summer cold." Lucio, terrified of his mother's wrath, ended up fleeing his tribe. After joining a mercenary band and traveling around with them, Lucio began to spread the plague with him.
After Lucio settled in Vesuvia and eventually became its count, the Red Plague hit the city. Lucio finally succumbed to the sickness he carried, causing the palace to put out a call for anyone who might be able to help cure the plague, offering resources and space to work. When the plague began to worsen, Asra and the apprentice discussed what to do. The apprentice wanted to stay and help find a cure, but Asra wanted to leave Vesuvia to escape it. After an argument, Asra left Vesuvia alone. The apprentice became the assistant of Dr. Devorak in hopes of finding a cure. However, the apprentice eventually succumbed to the illness. They were shipped to the Lazaret to be cremated, and burned to death alongside other plague victims.
When Asra returned to Vesuvia and discovered that the apprentice had perished, he was devastated. He began a plan to bring them back, which involved him working at the palace under the guise of assisting the effort to find a cure. There, he ended up working alongside Julian. Julian eventually discovered the cure to the plague after contracting it himself. After speaking to the hanged man in his realm, Julian was told Lucio was the source. Before Julian could act on this knowledge, the count was burned to death in his bedroom. The 'death' of Lucio led to the end of the plague.In the aftermath of the plague, Julian would begin wearing an eyepatch to hide his plague eye, a sign he has gotten the plague and been cured.
A fatal red plague is spreading among the people of Walgis, a world that has joined the anti-technology Butlerian movement, led by Manford Torondo. As the population continues to suffer and die from the disease, hope arrives in the form of vaccines transported by Venport Holdings.
The phenomenon of red plague becomes news in the wire and cable industry about every ten to fifteen years. It typically appears with a manufacturer new to making high-temperature silver-plated wire or silver-plated braid. Red plague occurs when the silver plating becomes damaged and is subject to moisture and/or high temperatures during the manufacturing process. The technical term for red plague is cuprous oxide corrosion. It is typically visible as spots of red or brown on the silver-plated conductor or silver-plated braid.
Red plague was first investigated in depth by Anthony and Brown in a 1965 article in Materials Protection Magazine. It was found that in every case where corrosion was visible there was a corresponding break in the silver plating. But not every place where there was a break in the silver plating was corrosion present. To decrease the chances of a gap in silver plating, a minimum plating thickness of silver is present in most wire specifications. Military specifications such as MIL-DTL-16878H and MIL-DTL-17J require a minimum plating thickness of 40 microinches (0.0001 mm). ASTM B298 includes tests for measuring the minimum plating thickness.
There have been several articles written about this red-plague phenomenon by NASA, ASTM, SAE, and IPC. One of the most influential presentations was created by Robert William Cookeat NASA in 2010 and is available at
Red plague has several meanings or uses across various fields. In the context of corrosion, red plague refers to the galvanic corrosion found on silver-plated copper wires that is often associated with high-resistance/corroded wiring.
Red plague has been observed in the industry since 1957. The occurrence rate has been described as an "occasional but persistent phenomenon." Mechanical damage exposing copper to water has been thought to be the primary cause of red plague.
When silver is plated over copper, copper corrosion can be an accelerated through galvanic action at pinholes or breaks in the silver plating. This corrosion is known as "red plague" and is identifiable by the presence of a brown-red powder deposit on the exposed copper.
In theory, red plague can only occur if the silver/copper interface is exposed to the atmosphere where moisture and oxygen are present. Additional, as-yet-unidentified agents may also play a role. If left unchecked, red plague advances to cupric oxide, which is black in color.
P. L. Anthony and O. M. Brown established in 1965 that red plague originates at breaks in the silver plating of copper wire strands in the presence of moisture and oxygen. The environmental test system artificially promotes red-plague corrosion under controlled laboratory conditions as a result of galvanic corrosion of the copper conductor core.
Records from the events show that the start of the Plague had broken out in Volantis. It is speculated that the ship had originated from the Shadow Lands and passed through the Smoke Sea. No manifest of the ship was ever recovered or even a name. However, many Maester believe that long journey helped the disease become more violent. The disease became dormant for a short time in the trade capital and then blew up quickly. From the major trade city, the disease spread to all the Free Cities from merchants trading goods and people seeking safety from the sickness. In a quick order the populations of Braavos,Pentos,Myr and Volantis were devistated, Lys and Tyrosh were nearly barren of people due to the deaths. Many institurions before the plague are devastated and/destroyed. Many Sellsword Companies attempted to carve out their own kingdoms but even they were not spared from the disease. It is assumed that nearly 45-50% of the populations of the Free Cities were killed off, while another 20-25% fled to the Kingdom of Westeros. 041b061a72