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MERS

(Encyclopedia)MERS or Middle East respiratory syndrome, relatively rare viral disease caused by MERS-CoV, a coronavirus. Although some infected persons have no or only coldlike symptoms, in most known cases of MERS...

smut

(Encyclopedia)smut, name for an order of parasitic fungi (Ustilaginales) and the various diseases of plants caused by them. Smuts produce sootlike masses of spores on the host. The spore masses may break up into a ...

trichinosis

(Encyclopedia)trichinosis trĭkˌĭnīˈəsĭs [key], parasitic disease caused by the roundworm Trichinella spiralis. It follows the eating of raw or inadequately cooked meat, especially pork. The larvae are releas...

rheumatic fever

(Encyclopedia)rheumatic fever ro͞omătˈĭk [key], systemic inflammatory disease, extremely variable in its manifestation, severity, duration, and aftereffects. It is frequently followed by serious heart disease, ...

pinworm

(Encyclopedia)pinworm, roundworm, Enterobius vermicularis, worldwide in distribution and the most common source of worm infestation of humans in the United States. Children are more commonly infested than adults. A...

tuberculosis

(Encyclopedia)tuberculosis (TB), contagious, wasting disease caused by any of several mycobacteria. The most common form of the disease is tuberculosis of the lungs (pulmonary consumption, or phthisis), but the int...

empyema

(Encyclopedia)empyema ĕmpē-ēˈmə [key], persistent purulent discharge into a cavity such as the pleural space or the gallbladder. Empyema results as a complication of bacterial infections such as pneumonia and ...

Finsen, Niels Ryberg

(Encyclopedia)Finsen, Niels Ryberg nēls rüˈbĕr fĭnˈsən [key], 1860–1904, Danish physician. He established in Copenhagen an institute of light therapy and wrote several books on his work. He received the 19...

Ames

(Encyclopedia)Ames, city (2020 pop. 66,427), Story co., central Iowa, on the Skunk River; inc. 1870. Its chief manufactures are electronic, water-analysis, and water-treatment equipment; motor vehicles;...

Löffler, Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Löffler, Friedrich frēˈdrĭkh löfˈlər [key], 1852–1915, German bacteriologist. From 1888 he taught hygiene at the Univ. of Greifswald. Among his many contributions to bacteriology are his demo...