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DayZis not just a zombie survival game where you fight with the dead and living, you also need to find a warm shelter and eat proper food to avoid lethal health issues. Other than that, you should pay close attention to your symptoms to understand your disorder, because if you have a disease, the game won’t tell you which one it is.
To be able to stay healthy and survive in this brutal world you will need to know how to treat your diseases as well as how to avoid them.
Updated July 20, 2025, by Sean Murray:Nobody likes getting sick, least of all when you’re sharing a world with homicidal players and hungry zombies. That’s why we’ve updated this guide to DayZ diseases with improved formatting and more links to other helpful topics.
All Diseases And Their Treatments
Diseases in DayZ have their ownunique causes, symptoms, and treatments. Knowing what sicknesses or diseases you are having plays a crucial part in your survival.
You canlearn what disease you have and its treatmentfrom this table.
Tips And Tricks For Avoiding Diseases
To avoid these lethal diseases you shouldfind out what disorder you have quicklybefore it advances to the second stages and treat it as it should be.
Common Cold
To avoid the Common Cold you shouldstay warm as much as possible, you canprioritize wearingclothes that are pristine and provide the best Insulation. If you can’t solve your problem with proper clothing you can set up a nice cozy campfire in a safe place, and you can keep yourself warm.
You canconsume Vitamins even if you are not sickif your body temperature is low. In this way,you may reinforce your immunity system.
If you or one of your friends have the flu, alwaysmake sure not to share any food or drink, and alwayswear masksto prevent illness from spreading.
Salmonella (Food Poisoning)
Whenever you skin any animal in DayZ your character’s hand will become bloody and eating or drinking with that hand causes food poisoning. To avoid this,make sure you wash your hands before you eat something.
Apart from that, you canwear gloves while you cutting animals and remove them after you are done. This way your hands stay clean.
If you don’t have any choice other than eatingraw meat, you shouldeat it in small amounts and use Charcoal Tablets to soften its effect.
Wearing gloveson top ofbloody handsdoesn’t work.
Cholera
Wells are a great way to get unlimited drinkable water for your character. The best way to avoid Cholera is toempty the unknown water and change it with well water. If you are living in the woods, in the middle of nowhere, there are other alternatives that you can use.
you may findChlorine Tabletsanduse them to purify the dirty river waters. Another alternative way to do it isboiling water in the campfire. You can simply fill a pot with water and boil it on the campfire until it is purified.
Chemical Poisoning
Chemical Poisoning is another type of food poisoning, this disorder occurs when you eat rotten or burned meat and when you drink gasoline. The best way to avoid this is toonly eat boiled or baked meat.
Kuru
There is no going back from the Kuru disease, also known as Brain Prion Disease or “the giggles.” The best way you can avoid this disease isnever to eat human meat, fat, or gutsandnever eat meat from unknown sources.
