whirling disease

noun

whirl·​ing disease ˈ(h)wər-liŋ- 

: an infectious often fatal disease especially of young salmonid fishes (such as trout and salmon) that is caused by a protozoan (Myxobolus cerebralis synonym Myxosoma cerebralis) and is marked by skeletal deformities and a tendency to swim in circles

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The organism then made the leap to both wild and farmed trout across the American west, causing what’s known as whirling disease. —Jeff Wheelwright, Discover Magazine, 24 June 2012

Rainbow trout once ruled the fishery but were wiped out by whirling disease in the 1990s. —Matt Wyatt, San Antonio Express-News, 9 Sep. 2021

Yellow Creek, a river bisecting the property that was once one of the best trout fisheries in the state, has been infected by a pathogen that causes whirling disease, which is deadly to native trout. —Spencer Silva, SFChronicle.com, 24 June 2019

At least two diseases made the list: white nose syndrome, which infects bats, and whirling disease, which attacks fish. —Fox News, 15 Mar. 2018

At least two diseases made the list: white nose syndrome, which infects bats, and whirling disease, which attacks fish. —Washington Post, 15 Mar. 2018

Word History

First Known Use

1946, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

whirling disease

noun

whirl·​ing disease ˈhwər(-ə)l-iŋ-  ˈwər(-ə)l- 

: an infectious often fatal disease of salmonid fish (as trout and salmon) that is caused by a protozoan (Myxobolus cerebralis synonym Myxosoma cerebralis) of the order Myxosporidia which attacks cartilage of the head and spinal cord especially of young fish and that causes the fish to swim in circles and is marked by skeletal deformities