Zombie Spores

Zombie Spores is a germ that infects Duplicants and applies a heavy temporary debuff. It is most commonly encountered in the Oil Biome, where the Sporechid plant spreads it into nearby gases. Duplicants can become infected by inhaling contaminated gas or through contact with an infected Duplicant.

Once infected, a Duplicant suffers -10 to all attributes for 18 cycles. The germ can also be dangerous because an infected Duplicant may die if the infection is allowed to run its course, potentially spreading the germ to others before then. Because of this, waiting it out is usually a bad option unless there is no better treatment available.

Zombie Spores is relatively hard to remove from the environment. It survives in Diamond, Coal, Carbon Dioxide, Natural Gas, Sour Gas, Crude Oil, Petroleum, Naphtha, and Methane. It is disinfected by Chlorine, Liquid Chlorine, and Bleach Stone. Any other gases inhibit it, and any other solids, liquids, or radiation exposure kill it. Its temperature range is -105 to 290 °C. In addition, the germ decays slowly: in gases such as Oxygen only 3% dies per cycle, while in liquids such as Water 29% dies per cycle.

The most reliable cure is Serum Vial produced in the Apothecary and used in the Disease Clinic. A Duplicant must know the Advanced Medical Care skill to operate the Disease Clinic, and a Duplicant with Medicine Compounding can craft Serum Vial using 1 unit of Sun Nymph Egg and 1 kg of Steel. Allowing the disease to expire naturally is possible, but it is not recommended because the infected Duplicant can die and infect others beforehand.

There are a few practical ways to reduce the risk of outbreak:

• Jet Suits and Atmo Suits can protect Duplicants from infection.
• If two infected Duplicants interact, there is a chance both will receive the Zombie Sports buff, which reduces the infection duration by 1 cycle and lowers Stress by 25% per cycle.
• On asteroids with the Frozen Core world trait, extra care is needed: liquefying Carbon Dioxide, dropping it into water, and then letting it evaporate again can create enormous numbers of germs on both the CO2 and the water.

In some situations it can be useful to deliberately trigger the Zombie Sports effect, but the infection timer should not be pushed so low that it kills the Duplicants involved.