It prompted me to invent some nasty diseases that might possibly afflict the residents of Jade. Wiblet's was the most sinister."

Residents of Jade's southern regions are fighting a deadly outbreak of Wiblet's disease. This is often confused with Wimple's disease, which is not life threatening and is caused by an allergic reaction to the sands of Jade's shores.

The first reported incidence came just as southern residents had been given the all clear, following a false alarm over a jadna that had to be quarantined. South coast jadna farmers had an anxious wait until Jade Farm Institute officials ruled out Wiblet's disease, for which there is no known cure, confirming it as the less dangerous Wimple's.

Within one eighth of a dana another jadna had fallen ill with weeping sores on its ears and tail - usually one of the earliest symptoms of Wiblet's disease. This time the infection, which was transmitted via airborne spores to the jadna's owner, has been confirmed as Wiblet's.

An exclusion zone has been set up around five farms. Three herds have already been culled. Two farming families have been wiped out and a third farmer and his wife are fighting for their lives.

Meanwhile, scientists are locked in a race against time to discover a vaccine against the micro-organism that causes the disease. In most cases the disease is fatal, though the exceptionally fit can sometimes survive an attack. If a cure is not found soon, there is a real danger that Jade's entire jadna farming population will die out, along with their herds.