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mad cow disease

(Encyclopedia)mad cow disease: see prion.

Marburg virus disease

(Encyclopedia)Marburg virus disease, formerly known as Marburg virus hemorrhagic fever, disease caused by infection with a Marburg virus, a filovirus that belongs to a family (Filoviridae) of RNA viruses that also ...

Tay-Sachs disease

(Encyclopedia)Tay-Sachs disease tāˈ-săksˈ [key], rare hereditary disease caused by a genetic mutation that leaves the body unable to produce an enzyme necessary for fat metabolism in nerve cells, producing cent...

sexually transmitted disease

(Encyclopedia)sexually transmitted disease (STD) or venereal disease, term for infections acquired mainly through sexual contact. Five diseases were traditionally known as venereal diseases: gonorrhea, syphilis, an...

sickle cell disease

(Encyclopedia)sickle cell disease or sickle cell anemia, inherited disorder of the blood in which the oxygen-carrying hemoglobin pigment in erythrocytes (red blood cells) is abnormal. This “hemoglobin-S” crysta...

pelvic inflammatory disease

(Encyclopedia)pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), infection of the female reproductive organs, usually resulting from infection with the bacteria that cause chlamydia or gonorrhea. The infection typically first affe...

neurotransmitter

(Encyclopedia)neurotransmitter, chemical that transmits information across the junction (synapse) that separates one nerve cell (neuron) from another nerve cell or a muscle. Neurotransmitters are stored in the nerv...

Ali, Muhammad

(Encyclopedia)Ali, Muhammad məhămˈəd älēˈ [key], 1942–2016, American boxer, b. Louisville, Ky. Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, he was a 1960 Olympic gold medalist. Shortly after upsetting Sonny Liston in 1964...

hoof-and-mouth disease

(Encyclopedia)hoof-and-mouth disease: see foot-and-mouth disease. ...

foot-and-mouth disease

(Encyclopedia)foot-and-mouth disease or hoof-and-mouth disease, highly contagious disease almost exclusive to cattle, sheep, swine, goats, and other cloven-hoofed animals. It is caused by a virus, specifically an a...