Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome
/ˌhæn.təˈvaɪ.rəs ˈpʊl.məˌnɛr.i ˈsɪn.droʊm/noun
A severe respiratory illness caused by infection with certain hantaviruses, usually acquired through exposure to infected rodent excreta.
Did you know?The term emerged after a 1993 outbreak in the southwestern United States, when investigators linked severe unexplained respiratory failure to Sin Nombre virus, a hantavirus carried by deer mice.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*weis-
“To melt away, flow, or be poisonous; a proposed ancient root behind Latin virus.”
Classical Latin
Latin
virus
“Poison, venom, or a harmful secretion.”
Ancient Greek
Greek
σύνδρομον (sýndromon)
“A concurrence or running together of symptoms or events.”
16th Century
Latin/English
pulmonary
“Relating to the lungs, from Latin pulmō, meaning lung.”
1970s
Modern scientific usage
hantavirus
“A virus group named after the Hantan River region of South Korea, where Hantaan virus was identified.”
1993
English
hantavirus pulmonary syndrome
“The clinical name applied after an outbreak of severe hantavirus-associated respiratory illness in the Four Corners region of the United States.”