Jon Connington, patient 0?

[benalapin]

Well I guess if you have ever seen the movie "black Death" with Sean Bean at the end when he has the plague and is drawn and quartered but before he dies he says that now the plague will spread to them. I imagine it like that. The virus is in his blood and touches a few ppl and then they spread it from there. I think its more like the bubonic plague than AIDS.

That is actually a myth that was recently busted. There was no way the "Bubonic" Plague could have spread so fast without being airborne.

As for Greyscale, I think that and the Pale Mare are supposed to mirror the Bubonic Plague, as it was caused by foreign invaders (Mongols/Dany+Aegon) opening up new trade routes in their empire, causing the transfer of pathogens into new territory. I'm sure Dany and Aegon won't open up trade routes but will directly bring the pale mare/greyscale with them. Perhaps it's all pointing to an ending where any Targaryen/Valyrian is expelled from Westeros because people, in a very Medieval fashion, will associate the plagues with them and go on witch hunts.

EDIT: Or Dany can purify and cleanse the continent by burning it.

[Ygrain]

That is actually a myth that was recently busted. There was no way the "Bubonic" Plague could have spread so fast without being airborne.

Last time I heard, the lung form spread as droplet infection - that is incorrect? Do you have a link?

[Chebyshov]

Greyscale is a bit of a medical head-scratcher, frankly:

The curse was oft seen in children, especially in damp, cold climates. The afflicted flesh stiffened, calcified, and cracked, though the dwarf had read that greyscale’s progress could be stayed by limes, mustard poultices, and scalding-hot baths (the maesters said) or by prayer, sacrifice, and fasting (the septons insisted). Then the disease passed, leaving its young victims disfigured but alive. Maesters and sep-tons alike agreed that children marked by greyscale could never be touched by the rarer mortal form of the affliction, nor by its terrible swift cousin, the grey plague. “Damp is said to be the culprit,” he said. “Foul humors in the air. Not curses.”

[Chebyshov]

Last time I heard, the lung form spread as droplet infection - that is incorrect? Do you have a link?

I think you're right: http://www.decodedscience.com/digging-black-death-caused-black-plague-danger/44166

Also note the picture of gangrene...not dissimilar to how I picture JonCon's hand.

[JonCon's Red Beard]

Him having greyscale only serves to have him motivated to crown Aegon faster than he expected. I'm sure Jon Connington is not the only man with greyscale that has travelled from Essos to Westeros and no outbreak has happened. Also, if the contagion is by touch, I doubt he's going to go around touching people. He doesn't even take his gloves in public, he wouldn't be so foolish to take a bath with other people, not due to contagion but because if people finds out, they will probably be killed or his whole mission is in danger. They could think Aegon also carries the disease.

[Elkrider]

It's a medical oddity because it's a magical disease that spreads via God-knows-what. I don't think applying modern medical knowledge will help, as magic expressly breaks all the rules. It's less fatal in children than in adults, apparently, like chicken pox, but given what Val said we may have cause to doubt that.