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hantavirus

(han′tə vī′rəs)

noun

any of a group of RNA viruses; esp., one spread by contact with rodent urine and feces, that can cause flulike symptoms and sometimes a fatal lung or kidney disease

Origin: after Hantaan River in S. Korea, where the disease was first identified

See hantavirus in American Heritage Dictionary 4

noun

Any of a group of viruses carried by rodents that cause epidemic hemorrhagic fever and severe respiratory infections in humans.

Origin:

Origin: After the Hantan River, South Korea (near which Westerners were first infected by the virus in the 1950s)

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