GC: n
S: CDC – https://www.cdc.gov/hantavirus/about/index.html (last access: 9 March 2025); MEDL – https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/001382.htm (last access: 9 March 2025).
N: 1. From 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 virus “poison, 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).
- First Known Use: 1984.
- A virus in the family Bunyaviridae that causes a type of haemorrhagic fever.
2. hantavirus. Also known as: Hantavirus.
- hantavirus, (genus Hantavirus), any member of a genus of viruses (Hantavirus) of the family Bunyaviridae that cause acute respiratory illnesses in humans.
- The hantaviruses are rodent-borne viruses, each of which has been evolutionarily adapted to a specific rodent host. Human infection occurs where people come into unusual and intense contact with infected rodent populations, mainly through inhaling dust containing dried rodent excreta in and around the home but also in the wild.
3. Microbiology and Parasitology; Human Diseases: hantavirus
- Any of several [RNA] viruses of the family Bunyaviridae, spread chiefly by wild rodents, that cause acute respiratory illness, kidney failure, and other syndromes.
- Plural: hantaviruses.
4. hantavirus (n).
- A virus in the family Bunyaviridae that causes a type of haemorrhagic fever.
- 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.
Genus of viruses hantavirus: Hantavirus.
5. Cultural Interrelation: One book and a real case.
- Betsy Arakawa, wife of Oscar-winning actor Gene Hackman, died from a respiratory illness linked to hantavirus, a rare disease transmitted by infected rodents, officials have confirmed.
Health experts warn that hantavirus can cause flu-like symptoms after exposure to rodent droppings, and in severe cases, it may develop into Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), a life-threatening lung condition.
Medical investigators believe Ms Arakawa contracted HPS, which led to her death.
It is believed she died a week before her husband, who was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Authorities discovered the deceased couple in their New Mexico home last month.
S: 1. Etymonline – http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=virus&searchmode=none (last access: 6 November 2014); MW – http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hantavirus (last access: 6 November 2014). 2. EncBrit – https://www.britannica.com/science/hantavirus (last access: 9 March 2025). 3. TERMIUM PLUS – https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tpv2alpha/alpha-fra.html?lang=fra&i=1&srchtxt=hantavirus&index=alt&codom2nd_wet=1#resultrecs (last access: 9 March 2025). 4. GDT – https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/26514944/hantavirus, https://vitrinelinguistique.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/fiche-gdt/fiche/8386955/hantavirus (last access: 9 March 2025). 5. Amazon – https://www.amazon.es/Mice-Men-Microbes-Hantavirus-ebook/dp/B000WBCST8 (last access: 9 March 2025); BBC – https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0rz0x0zjqzo (last access: 9 March 2025).
SYN:
S:
CR: hemorrhagic fever, rat, virus.
