Norwalk virus

noun

Nor·​walk virus ˈnȯr-ˌwȯk- 

: a highly infectious virus first identified as the causative agent of an outbreak of gastroenteritis in a school in Norwalk, Ohio in 1968

Note: Norwalk virus was later officially classified as a norovirus (species Norwalk virus). While the originally identified virus and closely related forms may still be referred to as Norwalk viruses, they are now more commonly called noroviruses.

Word History

Etymology

Norwalk, Ohio, site of an outbreak of the virus in 1968

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Norwalk virus

• antivirus
• herpesvirus
• parvovirus
• reovirus
• retrovirus
• rhinovirus
• rotavirus
• adenovirus
• baculovirus
• coronavirus
• enterovirus
• poliovirus

Medical Definition

Norwalk virus

noun

Nor·​walk virus ˈnȯ(ə)r-ˌwȯk- 

variants also Norwalk agent

: a highly infectious virus first identified as the causative agent of an outbreak of gastroenteritis in a school in Norwalk, Ohio in 1968

Note: Norwalk virus was later officially classified as a norovirus (species Norwalk virus). While the originally identified virus and closely related forms may still be referred to as Norwalk viruses, they are now more commonly called noroviruses.

Norwalk viruses are important causes of both sporadic and epidemic gastroenteritis.

—Melvin A. Kohn, The Journal of the American Medical Association