New Plague

New Plague is a socially transmitted plague which arose in 2053, killing approximately twenty thousand human beings in the United States, including cities such as Denver, Boulder, and Colorado Springs. The United States closed its borders and the first-ever national quarantine was declared. The source of the plague is unknown, but rumors persisted that it was a genetically engineered weapon.

The time of death from identification of symptoms was three to five days. "Symptoms included many symptoms in common with the flu or chest cold, and eventually resulted in clogged respiration, killing the infected subject.

In 2055, The West Tek Research Facility started working on a new virus to kill the New Plague. Despite their efforts, they were unable to find the cure and the plague continued to spread in the 2060s, fueling national paranoia.

The West Tek viral research and close ties to the federal government eventually lead to them being chosen for the Pan-Immunity Virion Project in 2073, a project later known as Forced Evolutionary Virus.

Shortly before the War, an outbreak of the New Plague hit Denver. Rioters burned down large parts of the city in their fear of contamination and anger at their treatment. Many panicked and fled the city by car, clogging the freeways when they ran out of gas and trapping everyone behind them. And then the bombs fell, destroying some of what was left and killing everyone who had managed to live through everything else.

In February 2077, FEV Research was leaked to the world through an unknown source. There were protests in many major cities and governments around the world, as well as accusations that the US was responsible for the New Plague.

As it later turned out, the Prisoner (Player Character) himself and other Big Empty prisoners were also infected with the Plague.

Appearances in games
The New Plague did not appear directly in any published Fallout game. It was, however, one of the major elements of the plot of Van Buren, the cancelled Fallout 3 project by Black Isle Studios. The plague was mentioned only once in Fallout 1, in ZAX's dialogue.