History Main / PlagueEpisode

** Season 9's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E21BloodDiamonds Blood Diamonds]]" had Trivette assuming the identity of a diamond smuggler named Joseph Ileka after he is killed by a pimp following a one-night stand with a prostitute named Sparkle in order for him and Walker to catch an arms dealer, [[spoiler:only for them to eventually perish after the dealer caught on to their cover]]. After Ileka was killed, the medical examiner's office reveals he had an Ebola virus that's 90% fatal and spreads like wildfire, likely to kill thousands if it wasn't contained right away. Before coming to Dallas, he likely contracted it at his native Uganda before letting it spread to Europe. Sparkle and her pimp both contracted the virus from Ileka, and after Gage, Sydney and Alex pick up and question Sparkle, she begins exhibiting the early symptoms upon which they fear they have been infected, too; Alex, most especially, due to her and Walker's unborn baby. The two Rangers and the ADA luckily come out negative, and [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse while it's unknown of what happened to Sparkle]], her pimp wasn't so lucky (though instead of the virus, Gage and Sydney killed him before he could be arrested during a bar brawl) and everyone he and Ileka came into contact with was quarantined, which made Walker decide he and Trivette had to take down the diamond smuggler's superiors right away. [[spoiler:Luckily, after Walker and Trivette are both killed by the arms dealer, the [[DreamEpisode entire episode]] was {{all just a|dream}} {{nightmare|sequence}} Alex had, but it may come to pass anyway, since [[OrWasItADream Walker and Trivette were actually on the case from that nightmare]].]]

** Season 9's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E21BloodDiamonds Blood Diamonds]]" had Trivette assuming the identity of a diamond smuggler named Joseph Ileka after he is killed by a pimp following a one-night stand with a prostitute named Sparkle in order for him and Walker to catch an arms dealer, [[spoiler:only for them to eventually perish after the dealer caught on to their cover]]. After Ileka was killed, the medical examiner's office reveals he had an Ebola virus that's 90% fatal and spreads like wildfire, likely to kill thousands if it wasn't contained right away. Before coming to Dallas, he likely contracted it at his native Uganda before letting it spread to Europe. Sparkle and her pimp both contracted the virus from Ileka, and after Gage, Sydney and Alex pick up and question Sparkle, she begins exhibiting the early symptoms upon which they fear they have been infected, too; Alex, most especially, due to her and Walker's unborn baby. The two Rangers and the ADA luckily come out negative, and [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse while it's unknown of what happened to Sparkle]], her pimp wasn't so lucky (though instead of the virus, Gage and Sydney killed him before he could be arrested during a bar brawl) and everyone he came into contact with was quarantined, which made Walker decide he and Trivette had to take down the diamond smuggler's superiors right away. [[spoiler:Luckily, after Walker and Trivette are both killed by the arms dealer, the [[DreamEpisode entire episode]] was {{all just a|dream}} {{nightmare|sequence}} Alex had, but it may come to pass anyway, since [[OrWasItADream Walker and Trivette were actually on the case from that nightmare]].]]

** Season 9's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E21BloodDiamonds Blood Diamonds]]" had Trivette assuming the identity of a diamond smuggler named Joseph Ileka after he is killed by a pimp following a one-night stand with a prostitute in order for him and Walker to catch an arms dealer, [[spoiler:only for them to eventually perish after the dealer caught on to their cover]]. After Ileka was killed, the medical examiner's office reveals he had an Ebola virus that's 90% fatal and spreads like wildfire, likely to kill thousands if it wasn't contained right away. The prostitute, and later, her pimp, contracted it from Ileka before she was arrested by Gage and Sydney, and after they and Alex question her, she begins exhibiting the early symptoms upon which they fear they have been infected, too; Alex, most especially, due to her and Walker's unborn baby. The two Rangers and the ADA luckily come out negative, and [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse while it's unknown of what happened to the prostitute]], her pimp wasn't so lucky (though instead of the virus, Gage and Sydney killed him before he could be arrested during a bar brawl) and everyone he came into contact with was quarantined, which made Walker decide he and Trivette had to take down the diamond smuggler's superiors right away. [[spoiler:Luckily, after Walker and Trivette are both killed by the arms dealer, the [[DreamEpisode entire episode]] was {{all just a|dream}} {{nightmare|sequence}} Alex had, but it may come to pass anyway, since [[OrWasItADream Walker and Trivette were actually on the case from that nightmare]].]]

** Season 9's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E21BloodDiamonds Blood Diamonds]]" had Trivette assuming the identity of a diamond smuggler named Joseph Ileka after he is killed by a pimp following a one-night stand with a prostitute in order for him and Walker to catch an arms dealer, [[spoiler:only for them to eventually perish after the dealer caught on to their cover]]. After Ileka was killed, the medical examiner's office reveals he had an Ebola virus that's 90% fatal and spreads like wildfire, likely to kill thousands if it wasn't contained right away. The prostitute, and later, her pimp, contracted it before she was arrested by Gage and Sydney, and after they and Alex question her, they fear they have been infected, too; Alex, most especially, due to her and Walker's unborn baby. The two Rangers and the ADA luckily come out negative, and [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse while it's unknown of what happened to the prostitute]], her pimp wasn't so lucky (though instead of the virus, Gage and Sydney killed him before he could be arrested during a bar brawl) and everyone he came into contact with was quarantined, which made Walker decide he and Trivette had to take down the diamond smuggler's superiors right away. [[spoiler:Luckily, after Walker and Trivette are both killed by the arms dealer, the [[DreamEpisode entire episode]] was {{all just a|dream}} {{nightmare|sequence}} Alex had, but it may come to pass anyway, since [[OrWasItADream Walker and Trivette were actually on the case from that nightmare]].]]

** Season 9's "[[Recap/WalkerTexasRangerS9E21BloodDiamonds Blood Diamonds]]" had Trivette assuming the identity of a diamond smuggler named Joseph Ileka in order for him and Walker to catch an arms dealer after he is killed by a pimp following a one-night stand with a prostitute, [[spoiler:only for the two Rangers to eventually perish]]. After Ileka was killed, the medical examiner's office reveals he had an Ebola virus that's 90% fatal and spreads like wildfire, likely to kill thousands if it wasn't contained right away. The prostitute, and later, her pimp, contracted it before she was arrested by Gage and Sydney, and after they and Alex question her, they fear they have been infected, too; Alex, most especially, due to her and Walker's unborn baby. The two Rangers and the ADA luckily come out negative, and [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse while it's unknown of what happened to the prostitute]], her pimp wasn't so lucky (though instead of the virus, Gage and Sydney killed him before he could be arrested during a bar brawl) and everyone he came into contact with was quarantined, which made Walker decide he and Trivette had to take down the diamond smuggler's superiors right away. [[spoiler:Luckily, after Walker and Trivette are both killed by the arms dealer, the [[DreamEpisode entire episode]] was {{all just a|dream}} {{nightmare|sequence}} Alex had, but it may come to pass anyway, since [[OrWasItADream Walker and Trivette were actually on the case from that nightmare]].]]

** Season 9's "Blood Diamonds" had Trivette assuming the identity of a diamond smuggler named Joseph Ileka in order for him and Walker to catch an arms dealer, [[spoiler:only for the two Rangers to eventually perish,]] but after Ileka is killed following a one-night stand with a prostitute, the medical examiner's office reveals he had an Ebola virus that's 90% fatal and spreads like wildfire, likely to kill thousands if it wasn't contained right away. The prostitute contracted it before she was arrested by Gage and Sydney, and after they and Alex question her, they fear they have been infected, too; Alex, most especially, due to her and Walker's unborn baby. The two Rangers and the ADA luckily come out negative, and while it's unknown of what happened to the prostitute, her pimp wasn't so lucky (though instead of the virus, Gage and Sydney killed him before he could be arrested during a bar brawl) and everyone said pimp came into contact with was quarantined. [[spoiler:Luckily, after Walker and Trivette are both killed by the arms dealer, the [[DreamEpisode entire episode]] was {{all just a|dream}} {{nightmare|sequence}} Alex had, but it may come to pass anyway, since [[OrWasItADream Walker and Trivette were actually on the case from that nightmare]].]]

* ''Series/BlakesSeven'': In "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS2E7Killer Killer]]", an alien virus wipes out a federation base. In "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS3E7ChildrenOfAuron Children of Auron]]", the Federation unleash a deadly plague on Auron, killing almost the entire population.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven'': In "[[Recap/BlakesSevenS2E7Killer Killer]]", an alien virus wipes out a federation base. In "Children of Auron", the Federation unleash a deadly plague on Auron, killing almost the entire population.

* ''Series/BlakesSeven'': In "Killer", an alien virus wipes out a federation base. In "Children of Auron", the Federation unleash a deadly plague on Auron, killing almost the entire population.
* ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'': The episode “Exposed” has the leisure centre suffer from an outbreak of Bobular Fever over the course of the episode, leading to mass quarantine of those who were in the swimming pool. Blame is initially placed on Colin's agouti, but it turns out to have come from Roger Ferguson (a reporter who was undercover at the centre).

*** In "The Naked Now", Geordi comes down with a strange disease that soon spreads to the rest of the cast via touch. It has different symptoms for every character: Yar and Dr. Crusher get horny, Geordi wishes he wasn't blind, Wesley becomes bossy and overconfident, and even Data gets afflicted and acts loopy and wants to play games.
*** In "Angel One", everyone except for Crusher (who was careful enough to avoid it), Tasha Yar, Riker, and Troi (who were down on a planet) comes down with a virus that makes them cough, sneeze, and behave lethargically. Crusher manages to cure it after finding out that [[spoiler:it spreads via smell]].
*** In "Genesis", the ''Enterprise'' is struck to a disease that makes them "devolve" into prehistoric monsters.
*** Downplayed in "Haven" and "Code of Honour"-- both involved plague-ridden alien civilisations as major plot points, but neither involved a main character getting infected.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E05Babel Babel]]", Quark accidentally triggers a biological weapon planted on the station by the Bajoran Resistance during the Occupation, which causes a neurodegenerative illness that initially manifests as aphasia. It starts from food replicated with the virus in it and rapidly spreads throughout the station after mutating to become airborne.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
** In "The Naked Now", Geordi comes down with a strange disease that soon spreads to the rest of the cast via touch. It has different symptoms for every character: Yar and Dr. Crusher get horny, Geordi wishes he wasn't blind, Wesley becomes bossy and overconfident, and even Data gets afflicted and acts loopy and wants to play games.
** In "Angel One", everyone except for Crusher (who was careful enough to avoid it), Tasha Yar, Riker, and Troi (who were down on a planet) comes down with a virus that makes them cough, sneeze, and behave lethargically. Crusher manages to cure it after finding out that [[spoiler:it spreads via smell]].
** In "Genesis", the ''Enterprise'' is struck to a disease that makes them "devolve" into prehistoric monsters.
** Downplayed in "Haven" and "Code of Honour"-- both involved plague-ridden alien civilisations as major plot points, but neither involved a main character getting infected.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'':
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E4TheNakedTime The Naked Time]]", a disease spreads around the ''Enterprise'' that causes severe loss of inhibition.
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E8Miri Miri]]", the crew beams down to a planet where all of the adults are dead and soon begin contracting the disease that killed them, leading to a race against time to find a cure.
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E12TheDeadlyYears The Deadly Years]]", a disease that causes people to rapidly age affects the whole away party that beamed down to a planet, which given that this is ''Star Trek'' consists of the entire command staff. The disease is actually caused by radiation instead of a virus, so it does not affect anyone who didn't beam down.
** In "[[Recap/StarTrekS3E19RequiemForMethuselah Requiem for Methuselah]]", a disease sweeps the ''Enterprise'', though it does not affect the main characters.

* In one episode of ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion'', an epidemic strikes the jungle, which causes all the animals to come down with an illness called the "Stony Mountain Speckled Fever". The epidemic is cured by an old mountain goat named "Old Pop Wooly".

* ''{{Literature/Animorphs}}'': In "The Sickness," Ax gets an Andalite illness and the human kids come down with it themselves one by one. They don't get the appendicitis-expy gland infection that Ax does, but they get bad flu-like symptoms. Eventually Cassie is the only one left to complete the book's mission. Fortunately she manages with help from a teacher who's part of the Yeerk Peace Movement.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/VivaPinata Viva Piñata]]'': In "Sick Day", almost everyone on Piñata Island comes down with a cold that makes them shoot candy out of their noses. This makes them unfit to be sent to parties, which inspires Fergy to catch it. However, he is unable to catch a cold despite acting as a nurse for dozens of sick piñatas while doing everything he can to get sick from them and is stuck carrying out his patients' endless requests. He ultimately doesn't need to catch a cold, since even Langston is sick and thus unable to force him to go to a party, and the epidemic prevents any piñatas from being allowed to be sent out, but this means he's stuck taking care of him on top of everyone else by the episode's end.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'': In the episode "Cosmic Rust", the Decepticons' return trip from an ancient Autobot city with a recorded warning saying to leave and never return to Cybertron gets Megatron impaled by a small asteroid that infects him with the titular disease, the same one the recording was trying to warm him about as it wiped out the city's population. Megatron has the Decepticons kidnap Perceptor to find a cure in exchange for ending the war, so Perceptor gives him some of a solution called corrostop he made to stop deterioration that he plans to use on all the world's monuments. Megatron double-crosses Perceptor once he has been cured by infecting him with Cosmic Rust and setting up a trap that requires the Autobots to get up close in order to save him. With the Autobots all infected and a vital ingredient to create more corrostop gone, the Autobots have to go to the Statue of Liberty, the only monument that got sprayed with the supply they had, to gather some corrostop and replicate it with their matter duplicator. Naturally, Megatron attempts to destroy Lady Liberty to prevent this solution.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/VivaPinata Viva Piñata]]'': In "Sick Day", almost everyone on Piñata Island comes down with a cold that makes them shoot candy out of their noses. This makes them unfit to be sent to parties, which inspires Fergy to catch it. However, he is unable to catch a cold despite acting as a nurse for dozens of sick piñatas while doing everything he can to get sick from them and is stuck carrying out his patients' endless requests.

* ''Series/TheTudors'': England grapples with an outbreak of "the sweating sickness" (likely a form of hantavirus), sickening Anne and [[spoiler:killing Compton.]]

A subtrope of SickEpisode. Compare EpisodeOfTheDead, in which the plague in question has zombifying effects. If subverted, see MistakenForDisease.

[[folder:Fanfic]]

* ''WesternAnimation/CraigOfTheCreek'' has [[Recap/CraigOfTheCreekS1E23TheLastKidInTheCreek "The Last Kid of the Creek"]], where Kit ends up WorkingThroughTheCold instead of closing down the Trading Tree while she's sick, and ends up spreading her illness to all the other kids of the creek through the food she trades. Craig is the only kid who doesn't take any food, and thinks that he has been cursed when he finds himself to be the only kid at the creek the next day.

* ''WesternAnimation/AngelinaBallerina'': One episode involves an increasing number of students falling ill with the "mouse pox", thereby being OutSick and unable to play "sunbeams" in the play. Angelina and Alice manage to be in the play without getting the disease, only to get the disease after the play is over.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'': "Gesundfight" is about the Amoeba Boys catching a flu-like illness that mutates with their biology into a supervirus and quickly spreads throughout Townsville, even infecting the Powerpuff Girls themselves.

* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': During the short "Sick Day." Strong Bad has caught some sort of virulent disease, rendering him unable to answer his weekly email (ironically a message asking how he and his friends manage to stay so healthy). The sickness has also spread to Homestar Runner, Strong Mad (who is under quarantine in his room), the Cheat, and even [[UpToEleven the Paper.]]

* ''{{Series/Reign}}'': With the Black Plague sweeping through France, Francis and Lola are separated from everyone else after the castle goes into lockdown without them. Pascal, the child Kenna has been looking after, [[AdultFear dies despite her efforts to protect him]]. Mary executes a nobleman for murder by tossing him in a dungeon full of plague-ridden bodies, but that causes his father to seek revenge against her.

This trope most frequently appears in historical or sci-fi settings. In a PeriodPiece or CostumeDrama, ThePlague in question will be known by an old-fashioned name that has since been replaced with a more clinical term. The disease is [[InfectionScene identifiable]] by an [[SicknessEqualsRedness unusually red complexion]] or an IncurableCoughOfDeath, followed by a high fever, extreme fatigue, and [[NightmareSequence nightmarish]] delirium. It will be a disease that has either been completely eradicated in modern times or is easily preventable through vaccines and proper hygiene. The UsefulNotes/COVID-19 pandemic has brought a resurgence of some of these story beats to more contemporary series, and they can be [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] or PlayedForLaughs in comedic and kid-friendly series. In sci-fi or fantasy settings, the plague may manifest itself with more unusual symptoms, at times a different way in each patient. A few characters may have more up-to-date knowledge of the nature of the disease, but they'll probably need to explain it to other characters who don't.

** Several PSA videos dealt with the real-life Covid-19 pandemic, and featured things such as a monster named Buddy dealing with his father catching it and his neighbour dying from it, Julia having to deal with wearing a mask, Louie getting vaccinated, and characters social distancing.

* ''WebVideo/DarkSimpsons'': A trilogy of videos inspired by COVID-19:

This trope most frequently appears in historical or sci-fi settings. In a PeriodPiece or CostumeDrama, ThePlague in question will be known by an old-fashioned name that has since been replaced with a more clinical term. The disease is [[InfectionScene identifiable]] by an [[SicknessEqualsRedness unusually red complexion]] or an IncurableCoughOfDeath, followed by a high fever, extreme fatigue, and [[NightmareSequence nightmarish]] delirium. It will be a disease that has either been completely eradicated in modern times or is easily preventable through vaccines and proper hygiene. The [[UsefulNotes/CoronavirusDisease2019Pandemic COVID-19 pandemic]] has brought a resurgence of some of these story beats to more contemporary series, and they can be [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] or PlayedForLaughs in comedic and kid-friendly series. In sci-fi or fantasy settings, the plague may manifest itself with more unusual symptoms, at times a different way in each patient. A few characters may have more up-to-date knowledge of the nature of the disease, but they'll probably need to explain it to other characters who don't.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/DennisAndGnasher'' episode "Couldn't Catch a Cold", Dennis goes to school, only to find everybody either [[OutSick absent]] or being sent home due to catching a certain type of cold called the "Beanotown Cold". Then, when he gets home, his dad also has it. He wants to catch it so he can skip school, but unfortunately, when he ''does'' catch it, he ends up missing a day at the beach.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'': The episode "One Flu Out of the Loud House" parodies the ZombieApocalypse genre with a flu outbreak in the Loud family. It begins with Lori getting sick, but due to the big size of the family, it quickly spreads to the other sisters (and their parents, and their pets!), who become sickly and listless. Lincoln tries to avoid his family, while Leni wants to help them at risk to herself. The episode ends with everybody in the family getting sick and Clyde taking care of them.