Anti-Caarite virus

The anti-Caarite virus, also known as the Tilnes virus, was a deadly bio-engineered plague that was designed to be fatal to members of the Caarite species. The virus was developed by the Believers Sith cult around 21 BBY during the Clone Wars, from a laboratory on the planet Genarius in the Cularin system. The cultists sought to use the plague to commit genocide against the Caarites and thereby weaken the influence of the Metatheran Cartel, a Caarite-dominated trade concern.

A test release of the virus was staged by the Believers at a Cartel base on Tilnes, the moon of the planet Cularin. The trial was largely successful and the plague wiped out hundreds of Caarites present in the installation, but had the unplanned side effect of causing Ko Bas, the base's overseer, and two other Caarites to be transformed into grotesque, raging mutants. Shortly afterward, the Believers initiated an operation to disperse the virus on Caarimon, the Caarite homeworld, an act that, if successful, would have killed hundreds of thousands of individuals. However, the cultists were prevented from releasing the virus by a group of freelance agents and the threat of the plague was averted.

Text and facts from the “Anti-Caarite virus” article on Wookieepedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0. Modified for this site.