Lymphocytic encephalitis

For other uses of the concept of viruses in Battlestar Galactica, see Virus.

Lymphocytic encephalitis is a viral disease that is highly lethal to Cylons. It is an ancient human disease that originally was carried by rodents, primarily rats. A couple hundred years ago, humans developed an immunity to the virus. A beacon, believed to have been left by the Thirteenth Tribe on their way to Earth, was contaminated by the virus. A Cylon baseship discovered the beacon, and humanoid Cylon, upon examining it, unknowingly unleashed the virus infecting all of the Cylons aboard.

The virus is especially virulent in Cylons because there is a bio-electric feedback component to the pathogen. It corrupts how the brain of a humanoid Cylon manages their immune system. If a Cylon who is infected dies and is resurrected, the disease will follow, infecting the Resurrection Ship and eventually the entire Cylon fleet.

This fact forms the basis of a plan devised by Lee Adama to eradicate the Cylon race. The plan proposes that by killing Cylon prisoners infected with the virus within the vicinity of a ResurrectionSship, the aforementioned bio-electrical feedback effect would be spread to all Cylons upon download of the infected Cylons consciousnesses. The plan is ultimately thwarted by Karl Agathon, who feels that the genocide of his wife's race, despite the fact that they had tried to do the same to mankind, is morally wrong.

However, the plan is ill-conceived as there is nothing to stop the Cylons from destroying the Resurrection Ship the moment they realize it is infected. The plan seems to hinge on the idea that once in the Resurrection Ship the disease would somehow spread throughout the Cylon fleet and perhaps even the whole of Cylon-inhabited space, an assumption which is likely based on the dread with which the Cylons view the disease.

Dr. Cottle believes he can create a simple vaccine that can dramatically reverse the effect on the Cylons. However, they carry an antibody in their blood which breaks down the RNA of the vaccine. Because of that, they will need regular close interval injections of the vaccine or they will die. If regular injections are provided, an infected Cylon can be kept alive indefinitely.

The strain of the virus that infected a baseship via the Lion's Head beacon is an exact match to one reported over 3,600 years ago, right around the time that the Thirteenth Tribe left Kobol (A Measure of Salvation), as the Scrolls of Pythia imply.

Notes

• Lymphocytic choriomeningitis (of which encephalitis is one form) is an actual disease. As in the episode, the illness was spread through rodents on the real-world Earth. The effects on the Cylons appear similar to the symptoms in this CDC document.