poliovirus

noun

po·​lio·​vi·​rus ˈpō-lē-(ˌ)ō-ˌvī-rəs 

variants or less commonly polio virus

: an enterovirus (species Poliovirus) occurring in three distinct serotypes that cause polio

Note: The poliovirus is typically transmitted orally by food, drink, or hands that are contaminated with infected fecal matter. The virus may sometimes be transmitted by the respiratory droplets or saliva of an infected individual. The poliovirus multiplies in the intestinal tract and sometimes spreads in the bloodstream throughout the body.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Afghanistan and its neighbor Pakistan are the last two countries where the wild poliovirus is still endemic, and the campaign is going full bore to wipe it out by the end of this year. —Byleslie Roberts, science.org, 16 Jan. 2023

The poliovirus is wildly contagious and usually spreads through contaminated food or water. —Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 22 Aug. 2022

She was paralyzed on Nov. 19; testing showed she’d been infected with a type 1 wild poliovirus. —Helen Branswell, STAT, 23 Feb. 2022

American virologist Jonas Salk created the first polio vaccine using a dead poliovirus — a visionary concept at that time. —Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 12 Dec. 2021

The World Health Organization said cases caused by wild poliovirus globally decreased by over 99% between 1988 and 2021 as a result of the polio vaccine. —Nate Trela, USA TODAY, 3 Aug. 2022

The poliovirus is mostly transmitted when a person touches their mouth after coming into contact with feces from an infected person and is most common among children. —Joseph Pisani, WSJ, 30 Nov. 2022

Currently one -- a man in Rockland county, NY -- but public health experts fear that's just the tip of the iceberg as the poliovirus has been found, through wastewater testing, in Rockland County, neighboring Orange County and New York City). —Andrea Kane, CNN, 20 Aug. 2022

The poliovirus has been eliminated in the U.S. and most countries for decades; the infected person is believed to have caught the virus from an international traveler. —Sara Reardon, Scientific American, 19 Aug. 2022

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Word History

Etymology

polio- (in poliomyelitis) + virus, later taken as New Latin

First Known Use

1939, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

poliovirus

noun

po·​lio·​vi·​rus ˈpō-lē-(ˌ)ō-ˌvī-rəs 

variants also polio virus

: a picornavirus of the genus Enterovirus (species Poliovirus) that occurs in three distinct serotypes that cause polio

Note: The poliovirus is typically transmitted orally by food, drink, or hands that are contaminated with infected fecal matter. The virus may sometimes be transmitted by the respiratory droplets or saliva of an infected individual. The poliovirus multiplies in the intestinal tract and sometimes spreads in the bloodstream throughout the body.

A distinctive characteristic of acute polio infection is the predilection of the poliovirus for the nerve cells that control muscles.

—Lauro S. Halstead, Scientific American