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The Lycanthrope Virus is not simply a virus, it is also the carrier of supernatural energies which are what truly allow it to change the characteristics of humans. The virus is not airborne but communicable through some bodily fluids.
Infection
Once the host is infected with the virus, is rapidly spreads through the system and begins to hijack the DNA of the host. While this process would normally produce some kind of human-animal hybrid given the nature of the virus, it does not. Instead the virus alters the cells so that they can collectively shift between one form and another, this infusion of otherworldly energy is what truly produces the Lycanthrope.
Infection can take days or months to completely infuse the body in this way, but it is always done by the first full moon after the initial infection. Prior to this, the body has not fully transformed and it is possible to rid the body of the virus, though exceedingly difficult and requires a great deal of magical effort as well as conventional medical care.
First Shift
The first shift occurs after the virus has taken hold of its host and alters their body to permit shifting. Once this is done, the initial shift is triggered by the full moon, unlike in popular myth the moonlight doesn't have to be visible to the person for them to begin shifting. Rather, the full moon has to be risen as high as it will be in the sky, the compulsion to shift will come on slowly and for the most part people have an instinctual urge to get clear of those closest to them.
Once the moon reaches its apex, the virus takes hold and completes the first shift, after this point the body is fully a Lycanthrope and this state cannot be reversed.