Sleeping fever was a deadly disease that afflicted the Ice Warrior civilisation on Mars. It was an infection that specifically targeted their biology which meant that it was not a threat to other species.
Martian geneticists chose sleeping fever as the basis of many forms of bacteriological and biological weaponry since it burnt itself out in less than a decade. This allowed their deployment to cleanse a settlement of its inhabitants and leave the city intact but uninhabited. Whilst the Martian warrior caste had attempted to tame the disease for their own use, it was known to still occur naturally and afflict various regions of the planet.
Over five centuries before 2157, the city of Sstee-ett-Haspar suffered from an outbreak of sleeping fever. A Plague Seal was left in place to warn travellers of the dangers within. (PROSE: GodEngine)
Behind the scenes[]
Sleeping fever as it's depicted in Doctor Who: Worlds Apart.
Sleeping fever appears as the card "Martian Sleeping Fever" in the video game Doctor Who: Worlds Apart.[1]