Item #: SCP-739
Object Class: Euclid
Special Containment Procedures: All samples of SCP-739 are to be contained in a biolab equipped for the containment of Level 4 biohazardous materials. Level 4 security clearance is required to interact in any way with SCP-739. No information about the biology of SCP-739 is to be downloaded onto any computer system that has any form of network access. Any subjects exposed to SCP-739 must be kept in level four quarantine for no less than four months. Any subjects infected with SCP-739 must be immediately terminated after the conclusion of testing.
Description: SCP-739 is a retrovirus that destroys the ability of infected subjects to understand language. Specifically, it targets several parts of the human brain vital to the understanding and use of language, including Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area, the supramarginal gyrus, ██████ █████████, and the angular gyrus. Early symptoms include mild flu-like symptoms, stuttering, difficulty in thinking of words, and poor reading comprehension. These symptoms typically appear within a week of exposure. Shortly after the appearance of early symptoms, the progress of the disease sharply accelerates. Within two weeks of exposure infected subjects display language skills on par with that of a two year old child, and have typically lost the ability to read altogether. Within twenty days of exposure infected subjects are completely incapable of understanding or speaking any form of language. The impairment is permanent.
SCP-739 is airborne, and is typically transmitted by sneezing during the first week of the disease. However infected individuals remain contagious for a much longer period of time. How long is not known, the longest an infected subject was allowed to remain alive was for a period of four months. She was still contagious after that time. Tests show that it can also be transmitted by exposure to saliva, blood, feces, and mucus, and semen.
SCP-739 was first discovered in the village of ████████, Russia. By the time Foundation personnel arrived at the scene more than one hundred people had progressed to the final stages of the disease. All people in the village were removed for examination, and were later terminated as per containment protocol. Twenty-one agents were also infected during the mission, and were also terminated. The area was sterilized, and is being monitored for further outbreaks.
Addendum:
The implications of SCP-739 reaching a major population center are grim indeed. Human civilization would be at risk if this disease was to spread beyond our ability to control it. Containment of SCP-739 must be maintained at all costs. Agents are authorized to use whatever methods necessary to contain further outbreaks should they occur. – O5-█