arbovirus

American

[ahr-buh-vahy-ruhs] / ˈɑr bəˌvaɪ rəs /

noun

any of several groups of RNA-containing viruses that are transmitted by bloodsucking arthropods, as ticks, fleas, or mosquitoes, and may cause encephalitis, yellow fever, or dengue fever.

arbovirus British

/ ˈɑːbəʊˌvaɪrəs /

noun

any one of a group of viruses that cause such diseases as encephalitis and dengue and are transmitted to humans by arthropods, esp insects and ticks

"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

arbovirus Scientific

/ är′bə-vī′rəs /

Any of a large group of RNA viruses that are transmitted primarily by arthropods, such as mosquitoes and ticks. The more than 400 species were originally considered to be a single group, but are now divided among four families: Togaviridae, Flaviviridae, Bunyaviridae, and Arenaviridae. These viruses cause a variety of infectious diseases in humans, including rubella, yellow fever, and dengue.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

arboviruses

plural

Etymology

Origin of arbovirus

1955–60; ar(thropod-) bo(rne) virus

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The vast majority of people infected with an arbovirus in Australia develop only mild symptoms, or none at all.

From Science Magazine • Nov. 21, 2023

"Aedes aegypti Argonaute 2 controls arbovirus infection and host mortality" was co-authored by Shengzhang Dong and George Dimopoulos.

From Science Daily • Sep. 22, 2023

Brazil, by far the hardest-hit country in the epidemic, really let its women down, said Dr. Artur Timerman, president of the medical society for dengue and arbovirus specialists there.

From New York Times • Jan. 16, 2017

"Zika was kind of a sleepy, inconsequential arbovirus discovered in the 1940s," says Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

From US News • Jan. 25, 2016

“We’re deeply concerned about the zika starting a transmission cycle here in south Texas,” said Dr Nikos Vasilakis, an arbovirus researcher at University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

From The Guardian • Jan. 13, 2016

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023