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Date: 2011-06-19 06:00 pm (UTC)During a period of hospitalization at the end of the novella Micah, Anita's blood test revealed that whilst she is not a lycanthrope, she is a carrier of at least four, possibly five, types of the lycanthropy virus: wolf, leopard, lion (as a result of her violent contact with the panwere Chimera), and two so far unidentified but potentially tiger (this may be as a reaction to the machinations of the Mother of All Darkness), snake (as a result of being bitten by Chimera in his weresnake form), or lamia (as a result of the attack by Melanie). This is considered unusual because one type of lycanthropy usually provides immunity to the other forms. This method of thinking, as of The Harlequin, has resulted in the injection of a rare feline lycanthropy to combat a recent infection due to attack. Because the viruses counteract one another this would result in an infection-free blood test. The same may be true for the reptilian strain Anita may have. One exception to the viral immunity/nullification was Chimera, who had multiple forms of lycanthropy and first used the term panwere to describe himself (Narcissus in Chains). One Hypothesis about Chimera's condition is that because he was infected by multiple forms of lycanthropes before his first change, he thus developed the transformative abilities of each virus; this directly contrasts the medical procedure of deliberate infection used in The Harlequin. Another Hypothesis is that Chimera had somehow contracted a mutation (or caused the mutation) of the virus allowing all others to coexist without nullifying one another. Anita may have inherited this mutation from Chimera. Another hypothesis is that Chimera's feelings about his transformation caused his split personality and therefore allowed the multiple virus to exist together, which also caused the problems down the road.
The author of the series, Laurell K Hamilton, has a degree in biology, and said during a Barnes and Noble Studio podcast that she finds that degree very useful in maintaining the realism of her various wereanimals.