hantavirus
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GC: n

S: WHO – http://www.who.int/ith/diseases/hantavirus/en/ (last access: 6 November 2014); DORLAND; EncBrit.

N: 1.Hanta: New Latin from Hantaan, river in South Korea near where rodents carrying the virus were collected 1974–78 +
virus: late 14c., “venomous substance,” from Latin viruspoison, sap of plants, slimy liquid, a potent juice,” probably from PIE root weis- “to melt away, to flow,” used of foul or malodorous fluids, with specialization in some languages to “poisonous fluid” (cognates: Sanskrit visam “poison,” visah “poisonous;” Avestan vish- “poison;” Latin viscum “sticky substance, birdlime;” Greek ios “poison,” ixos “mistletoe, birdlime;” Old Church Slavonic višnja “cherry;” Old Irish fi “poison;” Welsh gwy “fluid, water,” gwyar “blood”). Main modern meaning “agent that causes infectious disease” first recorded 1728 (in reference to venereal disease).
2. First Known Use: 1984.
3. A virus in the family Bunyaviridae that causes a type of haemorrhagic fever.
4. It is thought that humans catch the disease mainly from infected rodents, either through direct contact with the animals or by inhaling or ingesting dust that contains aerosolised viral particles from their dried urine and other secretions.
5. Any of several viruses of the family Bunyaviridae, spread chiefly by wild rodents, that cause acute respiratory illness, kidney failure, and other syndromes.
Plural: hantaviruses.
6. The hantaviruses classified in Hantavirus genus of Bunyaviridae family, may cause two different types of clinical conditions, namely hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS). Mortality may reach up to 40% in these infections. Hantavirus subtypes (Sin Nombre, Hantaan, Seoul, Puumala, Dobrava, etc) with different virulences represent one of the most significant factors affecting the mortality.
7. Infection with hantavirus can progress to Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), which can be fatal. People become infected through contact with hantavirus-infected rodents or their urine and droppings.

S: 1. MW – http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hantavirus (last access: 6 November 2014); OED – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=virus&searchmode=none (last access: 6 November 2014). 2. MW – http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hantavirus (last access: 6 November 2014). 3 & 4. GDT. 5. TERMIUMPLUS. 6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24506730 (last access: 6 November 2014). 7. http://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/ (last access: 6 November 2014).

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CR: hemorrhagic fever, rat, virus.