West Nile virus


nounPathology.
  1. an illness caused by a chiefly mosquito-borne virus of the genus Flavivirus, characterized in a small percentage of infected persons by fever, headache, muscle weakness, and sometimes encephalitis or meningitis.

  2. the virus that causes this illness.

Origin of West Nile virus

1
First recorded in 1935–40; named after the West Nile region of Uganda

Words Nearby West Nile virus

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How to use West Nile virus in a sentence

Scientific definitions for West Nile virus

West Nile virus

[ wĕst nīl ]


  1. An infectious disease caused by a virus of the genus Flavivirus, occurring in Africa, Asia, the Mediterranean, and parts of North America. The infection is transmitted by a mosquito and can cause mild illness as well as severe, sometimes fatal encephalitis and meningitis.

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