picornaviruses

Noun

picornavirus (plural picornaviruses)

1. Any of the family Picornaviridae of RNA viruses, many of which are pathogenic, causing diseases such as polio, foot-and-mouth disease, and many varieties of the common cold.
   • Historically, interest in virology developed because these tiny microbes caused significant human and veterinary disease. One picornavirus, foot-and-mouth disease virus, was the first animal disease virus discovered; it was identified by Friedrich Loeffler and Paul Frosch in 1898 as a filterable...2010, Ellie Ehrenfeld et al., The Picornaviruses, American Society for Microbiology Press, →ISBN