myxomatosisn.
/ˌmɪksəməˈtəʊsɪs/, U.S. /mɪkˌsoʊməˈtoʊsəs/ Veterinary Medicine.
A usually fatal disease of the European rabbit ( Oryctolagus cuniculus) caused by the myxoma virus, transmitted by fleas and mosquitoes and characterized by inflammation and swelling of the eyes, nose, and anogenital region and the formation of lumpy myxomatous skin nodules.Originally identified in laboratory rabbits in South America in the 1920s, the disease has been artificially introduced into Australia, Europe, and other localities to reduce rabbit populations.
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the world > health and disease > ill health > animal disease or disorder > disorders of rodents > [noun]
slobbers1841
melioidosis1921
myxoma1927
myxomatosis1927
murine typhus1933
myxo1951
polyomavirus1958
myxy1961
1927 Proc. Soc. Exper. Biol. & Med. 1926–7 24 436 The point of particular interest concerning the myxomatosis of rabbits..is the fact that both epithelial tissue and connective tissue is affected.
1953 Times 20 Oct. 5/4 The Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries announced yesterday that in the past week myxomatosis, a virus disease of rabbits, was discovered near Edenbridge, Kent.
1968 M. Pyke Food & Society v. 59 The farmers.., for their own ends, had introduced the disease, myxomatosis, to exterminate the rabbits, which previously kept the brush in check.
1972 R. Adams Watership Down ii. 8 He had coolly..stood firm during the terrible onslaught of the myxomatosis.
1986 Stone's Justices' Man. (ed. 118) I. 587 A person shall be guilty of an offence if he knowingly uses or permits the use of a rabbit infected with myxomatosis to spread the disease among uninfected rabbits.
2001 Interzone Mar. 5/1 Among American cottontail rabbits, it is a benign infection; but among European leporids, myxomatosis is a killer.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1927