Medical Definition of Visna maedi virus
1.
A retrovirus of sheep and goats. A member of the lentivirus subfamily related to HIV.
First identified in Iceland when it was introduced by sheep imported from Germany and causes two diseases the most common, maedi, is a pulmonary infection (maedi is Icelandic for shortness of breath) and when it infects the nervous system, visna, a paralysis similar to multiple sclerosis (visna is Icelandic for wasting).
This entry appears with permission from the Dictionary of Cell and Molecular Biology
(11 Mar 2008)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Visna Maedi Virus
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