slow virus
nounPathology.
a virus that remains dormant in the body for a long time before producing symptoms, as in several neurological diseases, including kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Origin of slow virus
1First recorded in 1950–55
Words Nearby slow virus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
British Dictionary definitions for slow virus
slow virus
noun
any of a class of virus-like disease-causing agents known as prions that are present in the body for a long time before becoming active or infectious and are very resistant to radiation and similar factors: believed to be the cause of BSE and scrapie
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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