slow virus

noun

, Pathology.

1. a virus that remains dormant in the body for a long time before producing symptoms, as in several neurological diseases, including kuru and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.

slow virus

noun

1. any of a class of virus-like disease-causing agents known as prions that are present in the body for a long time before becoming active or infectious and are very resistant to radiation and similar factors: believed to be the cause of BSE and scrapie

Word History and Origins

Origin of slow virus¹

First recorded in 1950–55