Nothing is worse than being struck down during the summer by a dreaded cold or the flu. Sadly, quite a few of us at Lucas Online (including myself!) are suffering through a rather vicious virus — personally I think it’s Balmorra Flu. Then again, I should be counting my lucky Death Stars that I don’t have Crazed Bantha Fever!

So now is the perfect time to look back at some of the viruses, flu bugs (in some cases actual insects) and other diseases that have attacked various Star Wars characters.

Blue Shadow Virus
The infamous Blue Shadow Virus, a deadly plague wiped from the galaxy generations ago, comes back as a very real threat by the hand of mad scientist Dr. Nuvo Vindi, during The Clone Wars. Vindi has cultivated it once more. Furthermore, he has created an airborne version of the virus — no longer is it contained only to water. Placed within bombs, the gaseous virus is now an incredibly potent weapon. In the attempt to thwart Vindi, Amidala and Ahsoka, as well as a few clone troopers, are infected with the deadly virus, leaving it up to the Jedi to track down the cure in the form of a rare plant root.

Krytos virus
Once it infected a host, the virus destroyed the infected host body cell by cell until the victim’s flesh fell apart completely, resulting in an agonizing death. Highly contagious, the Krytos virus was designed to both target only non-Human populations and be treated by large amounts of bacta. The virus was transmitted by physical contact or through a water supply, but could not spread by airborne transmission. The plague was eventually eradicated by the Vratix, a bacta-producing insectoid species from Thyferra, who combined bacta and ryll kor to develop rylca, the most effective medicine against the disease.

Kaminoan nano-virus
The Kaminoan Nano-Virus was a Nanogene virus created by a Separatist-aligned Kaminoan to kill all clone troopers. It was discovered by the Jedi Kit Fisto and Aayla Secura a few months after the Battle of Geonosis, who were staying at Kamino when they passed a squad of dead troops. After confirming a deadly virus, Prime Minister Lama Su issued Master Cloner Sayn Ta to create a vaccine to protect all clones

Gobindi virus
The Gobindi virus was first discovered by the ancient Gobindi, who were utterly wiped out from its spreading. The Gobindi discovered a cure, but failed to administer it quickly enough to survive. Thriving in hot and humid environments, the virus required a liquid medium to move from one host to another, thus remaining mildly contagious at best. Imperial scientists discovered a way to allow the virus to move through the air and developed it into a biological weapon. The virus itself resembled a tiny, horned eel that wrapped its host in a coating of green slime to maintain its environment. Covered in the slime, the host could continue to move about, spreading the virus. The Empire’s plan to use the virus as a weapon was ultimately foiled.

Check out more illnesses in this handy and sickly index on Wookieepedia: Diseases and Maladies in Star Wars