arenavirus

[ahr-en-ey-vahy-ruhs]

noun

plural

arenaviruses 

1. any of various RNA-containing viruses of the family Arenaviridae, usually transmitted to humans by contact with excreta of infected rodents.

Word History and Origins

Origin of arenavirus¹

1971; earlier arenovirus (1970) < Latin (h)arēn(a) sand + -o- + virus; so called from the RNA granules seen in cross sections of the virion

Example Sentences

“If it was a bunyavirus or an arenavirus, we would have been lost for two to three years.”

Read more on Nature

These include viruses highly pathogenic to humans, such as influenza virus, arenaviruses and filoviruses, that have not previously been reported in fish or amphibians.

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We continue to solicit antibodies against the other filoviruses and many arenaviruses, including Lassa, which causes hundreds of thousands of infections each year and thousands of deaths.

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"We never thought we would find an arenavirus in a tick. These types of viruses are usually transmitted by rodents," she noted.

Read more on US News

What they found surprised them: A type of virus, arenavirus, that appears to be a distant—and perhaps ancient—relative to the viruses that can cause Ebola and hemorrhagic fever in humans.

Read more on Scientific American