Wasting Plague

The Wasting Plague was one of a series of epidemiological disasters that devastated the planet, some natural and some bioengineered as part of various national programs.

History
The Wasting Plague of 1999 was a horrible infection that attacked the intestines of its victims and made them starve to death no matter how much food they ate. It was aided by easy and rapid spreading between countries, densely packed urban areas, and a willful tendency for the broken governments of the period to ignore or downplay the effects of medical emergencies. The plague tore through Europe and finally came to the United States in 1999. Completely ignored in the chaos of the Gang of Four's rule, the plague killed an estimated 14 million people before a vaccine was finally developed in Japan.