echovirus
/ˈɛkəʊvʌɪrəs
/(also ECHO virus)
noun Medicine
Any of a group of enteroviruses which can cause respiratory infections and a mild form of meningitis.These are usually self-limited syndromes caused by a variety of viruses: rhinovirus, adenovirus, echovirus, coxsackievirus, influenza, and parainfluenza viruses....
- Enteroviruses, including coxsackieviruses and echoviruses, are important viral pathogens in humans, causing a variety of diseases.
- Named after Coxsackie, New York, where they were discovered, the coxsackie viruses are part of the enterovirus family of viruses (which also includes echoviruses, polio, and hepatitis A viruses) that live in the human digestive tract.
Origin
1950s: from echo (acronym from enteric cytopathogenic human orphan, because the virus was not originally assignable to any known disease) + virus.