Modified Canine Distemper Virus

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**The** **Modified Canine Distemper Virus** is a genetically altered form of the canine distemper virus, which was created by The Chemist, an assassin who modified the virus for two purposes—one, to temporarily sicken humans exposed to the virus, and two, to kill any canine shapeshifter who was infected, including Werewolves, Werecoyotes, and Kitsune. There were two main instances in which the weaponized virus was used to intentionally kill others. The first was the "test run," which seemingly involved exposing Satomi Ito's Werewolf Pack, killing all but maybe seven or eight of the members and collecting several million dollars in Deadpool bounties. The second was when The Chemist used this virus at Beacon Hills High School while the junior class took the PSATs, as he intended to collect the $119 million in the Deadpool hit-list bounties by killing Adella McCall ($50 million), Scott McCall ($25 million), Kira Yukimura ($6 million), Josie Yukimura ($8 million), Cora Hale ($6 million), Hayley Hale ($6 million), Isaac Lahey ($3 million), Hope Mikaelson ($11 million), and Malia Tate ($4 million); this event drew the attention of the Centers of Disease Control, who quarantined the school for almost twenty-four hours until the infected students began to recover.

The symptoms of the virus seems to vary based on species. Humans seemed to develop weakness and dizzy spells accompanied with a rash that varied between blotchy, red, and swollen skin to large patches of blister-like pustules that resembled those that characterize smallpox. Their complexion turned very pale with dark shadows appearing under their eyes. Werewolves and Werecoyotes seemed to be affected by the virus in similar ways. First, they developed a fever, then they began shifting uncontrollably-- fangs, claws, and sometimes full transformations. From there, the disease progressed to bleeding black blood from their eyes, nose, ears, mouth, and nailbeds, followed by severe weakness and loss of control over their muscles, and finally, they lost their sight, which indicated that they were only minutes from death. Werejaguars, feel weakened by it like a human, have rashes, but is also blinded from it. Accourding to Hope she felt like dying but since she's a feline werecreature she wouldn't be killed by it.

Kitsune, who are a spiritual type of canine shapeshifter, were affected by the disease in a different way, suggesting that their similarity to werecreatures made them an unintended target of the virus. While they did not experience the weakness or bleeding that the aforementioned creatures who were infected went through, they began to have neurological issues that affected their hand-eye coordination; for example, Kira Yukimura was unable to fill in the dots on her exam sheet, instead thinking she was doing so but really making new circles in the margins. However, like Werewolves and Werecoyotes, Kitsune also began experiencing blindness just before the disease became fatal. The rank of the infected creature seemed to affect how the virus progressed, with the Beta Werecoyote Malia Tate succumbing to the more serious symptoms much more quickly than the True Alpha Werewolf Scott McCall, who lost his sight in human form but who was still able to see with his Werewolf eyes.

While Alan Deaton and Melissa McCall were performing an autopsy on Reed Schall, Satomi Ito's Beta Werewolf, they began to wonder how some members of Satomi's Pack, such as Satomi herself, were not infected by the virus, while others were afflicted and subsequently killed by it. After some discussion, it was soon realized that wild purple reishi mushrooms, which Satomi made into a tea that she drank frequently, was both a vaccine and a cure for the disease. Fortunately, there was a jar of dried reishi mushrooms in the Beacon Hills Hale Vault, where Adella, Josie, Hope, Hayley, Cora, Kira, Malia and Scott quarantined themselves upon learning they were infected, as Malia was unable to retract her claws, and Scott's fangs were extending and retracting uncontrollably. Once they inhaled the powdered mushrooms, they were quickly cured of the virus. For the humans who were infected, they all began to get better after a certain number of hours, suggesting that there may have been a type of suicide chain in the cells to destroy themselves after a set period of time.

It is unknown how Satomi's Pack was exposed to the virus, but The Chemist infected the students (and one single teacher, Bobby Finstock) by lacing the ink pad used to press thumbprints to verify one's identity for the standardized test, easily introducing the disease into the bodies of every student there to take the PSATs.

## Trivia

* This is the first and only known disease that is capable of sickening shapeshifters, who all typically possess accelerated healing powers that prevent them from being infected with conventional illnesses.
* Canine distemper virus is a variant of smallpox; in fact, when Natalie Martin first saw the rash on Bobby Finstock's back, she initially believed that he did indeed have smallpox, which led her to call the Centers for Disease Control to enact a quarantine at Beacon Hills High School.