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[itg]

About ten years ago in the fortress of Ironmysteries, a particularly Fun syndrome popped up. Seemingly random dwarves started bleeding out through the feet. Most didn't live long enough to reach the hospital, none lasted long enough to receive a diagnosis. Around eight dwarves died over about three game days, then life in the fortress returned to normal. It was a bit of a shock, but I was about to start sacrificing dwarves to the framerate gods anyway, so I chalked it up to longterm symptoms of some old forgotten beast encounter and moved on. No big deal.

The real problem is, every 2-3 years, another group of eight or so dwarves dies of explosive bleeding through the feet. If this keeps up, I'll start seeing migration waves for the first time in over 20 years. I've run dfcleanmap multiple times (incidentally) since the first wave of deaths, and I've set up both a dwarven bathtub and a mist generator, so I'm not sure what else can be done. I think I might be able to deal with the syndrome if I knew how it was spreading, which leaves me with a few questions:

1) How long can it take for longterm symptoms of a forgotten beast syndrome to show up? Is is possible for a dwarf to carry a syndrome for ten years or more before experiencing symptoms?
2) Can a dwarf catch the syndrome by handling the corpse of a victim of the disease? how about walking through his blood?
3) Are there any indications that a dwarf is carrying a syndrome even if he is not showing symptoms?
4) Can items carry the syndrome and pass it on to a dwarf that handles it?
5) Any other advice for dealing with syndromes?

[Nidokoenig]

What you could try is seeing if one of your migrants has a higher diagnostician level than your current CMD and switch out if so. Then put small groups of dwarves on a retracting bridge to give them a mild injury to force a diagnosis, and level up your CMDs diagnostician level, to see if he can identify the problem and possibly treat it.

I don't have a lot of experience dealing with syndromes. My first FB was a horn silver mite, I've been very careful about walling up the caverns real quick since then.

[itg]

That's not a bad idea, especially since my diagnostician died of the syndrome a year or two ago. Unfortunately, no one lives long enough to for the doctor to show up once their feet start bleeding. If only those idiots dwarves knew how to make tourniquets...

[Nidokoenig]

That's the thing, you put them on a bridge and launch them, break a couple of bones, then get the diagnosed. The syndrome is, presumably, already present, just dormant, so it should be caught by a diagnosis, you just need to get one done by doing your dwarves an obvious mischief.

[Corneria]

I'm not positive, but 2 sounds like it would be possible. Also, I think 4 is possible if it got covered in extract or w/e.

[kyle902]

Start making socks and shoes, If I remember correctly if the shoes/socks of a dwarf wear off then they can pick up floor based FB syndromes.

[Mintaka]

From what I understand, dwarves can only catch syndromes from direct contact with the forgotten beast's blood/venom/whatever.  So yes, new dwarves might catch it when they bury the corpses of those who die, but only if the dead ones still have smears of forgotten beast stuff on them.  The blood of the victims doesn't start spreading the syndrome. 

[Makigall]

I've seen a syndrome like this before, with the profuse bleeding through the feet.  I don't think syndromes target specific body parts for bleeding, like if a dwarf gets a syndrome it doesn't make him bleed from his arms unless the wound happened in his arms.  So I'd check the ground around where this bleeding is happening.  My suspicion is that there's a forgotten beast body part or something else on the ground with FB extract, dust, or blood on it, and when your barefoot dwarves step on this tile they step in the FB stuff and then start bleeding from the feet.

I'd say your best protection is to wall areas off.  You can then drop cats into that area and use them as your test patients to find out where they foot death is coming from.  Also you should draft everyone and force them to where socks.

I had something like this manage to wipe out a fortress of 175 because the beast got hacked to pieces and there were cave swallow men corpses around, so a ton of hauling jobs got triggered in the area.  There were lines of dwarf blood leading from my caverns to my hospital.

[Sutremaine]

Start making socks and shoes, If I remember correctly if the shoes/socks of a dwarf wear off then they can pick up floor based FB syndromes.

Leather boots are better if you can get them. They don't wear and aren't claimable.

[Nil Eyeglazed]

1) How long can it take for longterm symptoms of a forgotten beast syndrome to show up? Is is possible for a dwarf to carry a syndrome for ten years or more before experiencing symptoms?

Not totally sure-- but no, it's not that the syndrome is latent for ten years.  It's that something is spreading it, something you can't find.

2) Can a dwarf catch the syndrome by handling the corpse of a victim of the disease? how about walking through his blood?

No.  Contaminants do not spread from picking up an item.  And there's no way for the deceased's blood to carry a syndrome, although it is possible for the original creature's blood to carry the syndrome.

3) Are there any indications that a dwarf is carrying a syndrome even if he is not showing symptoms?

It's not the dwarf that carries it; it's the contaminants.  Look on inventory.  Look for forgotten beast blood or extract on the feet.

4) Can items carry the syndrome and pass it on to a dwarf that handles it?

Not to dwarves that handle it.  But items that are contaminated will pass their contaminants to the floor when they get wet, and then walking over that floor can lead to dwarven infection.

5) Any other advice for dealing with syndromes?

I can't figure out whether shoes and such protect-- sometimes it seems they do, other times, it seems they don't.  Making all members of your fort military with compulsory footwear might help.
It can be really really hard to locate the stuff.  Look through your deceased forgotten beasts and/or clowns for one with deadly blood or noxious secretions or deadly dust.  That can help give you an idea where it all started.
Make a dwarven bathtub (trench with 2/7 water) that dwarves pass through regularly.  This will help contain the spread.  Examine your trench on a regular basis for suspicious blood or extract.
Turn cleaning on for all dwarves.
Make a safe spot for dwarves that won't wear footwear (children, for example).  Restrict them to that burrow.
Try and find contaminated items.  When a dwarf bleeds to death, inspect the dwarf and his footwear immediately.  Dump the footwear if it's contaminated.
Inspect the outside and any muddy tiles (including caverns) carefully.  Dwarves will never clean these tiles.  You can clean them by building a floor.
Look next to your water source.  Contaminants congregate near water sources as dwarves wash themselves clean.
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[Buttery_Mess]

I always have a guy with all labours turned off but cleaning, rescue and feeding/watering, and plenty of spare buckets and soap. It's the only real non-cheaty way of keeping a well established fort from looking like you gave twenty unlabelled tins of paint to an insane clown on an acid trip, and it also permanantly destroys FB extract.

[itg]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Looks like I'll be dropping half the fortress off a bridge to force them to go see the doctor and setting off a catsplosion so I can give leather boots to 160 dwarves.

[Urist Da Vinci]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Looks like I'll be dropping half the fortress off a bridge to force them to go see the doctor and setting off a catsplosion so I can give leather boots to 160 dwarves.

Seeing that you run dfcleanmap, did you ever use dfhack to create and then erase magma in an area that your dwarves may walk through?