The Outbreak refers to an infectious disease outbreak that took place in the Cascadian capital of Pørtland in early 2014.
The origins of the disease that caused The Outbreak remain unknown. The disease is known officially as Pørtland Idiopathic Respiratory Disease (PIRD).
Patient Zero was believed to have been George Whitmoth, a researcher at the Paralux Corporation. From George Whitmoth, the disease spread to 14 people, and from those 14 people to another 97. After that, the disease spread widely amongst the population and within one month more than 100,000 in the Pørtland area alone were sick with the disease.
On March 3rd, 2014 the Overborgmeister of Pørtland issued General Order 2717, which declared a state of emergency in the Pørtland Autonomous Region of Cascadia and instituted marshal law and a quarantine of all those sick or thought to have been exposed to the disease. Nearby regions instituted similar policies, following Pørtland’s lead. These measures slowed the spread of the disease and helped to contain it.
On April 1st, 2014, Klara Lassater, working with teams at both Morgen Genentech and Paralux announced the creation of a vaccine which proved effective in 98% of cases.
All told, more than 60,000 people died from the disease. Victims came from every walk of life and station and afterwards few families could claim that they’d been fully spared by the disease.