African horse sickness

Af·ri·can horse sickness

noun \ˌaf-ri-kən-\

Definition of AFRICAN HORSE SICKNESS

: a serious and commonly fatal disease of horses and sometimes other mammals including rarely humans that is caused by a reovirus of the genus Orbivirus (serotypes of species African horse sickness virus), that is endemic in parts of central and southern Africa, that is characterized by fever, edematous swellings, and internal hemorrhage, and that is transmitted by biting flies of the genus Culicoides—called also horsesickness