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weed

(Encyclopedia)weed, common term for any wild plant, particularly an undesired plant, growing in cultivated ground, where it competes with crop plants for soil nutrients and water. In their natural habitat, wildflow...

smallpox

(Encyclopedia)smallpox, acute, highly contagious disease causing a high fever and successive stages of severe skin eruptions. Occurring worldwide in epidemics, it killed up to 40% of those who contracted it and acc...

norovirus

(Encyclopedia)norovirus or Norwalk virus, highly contagious viral disease caused by infection with an RNA virus of the genus Norovirus. The virus causes acute gastroenteritis, usually one to two days after infectio...

lupus

(Encyclopedia)lupus lo͞oˈpəs [key], noninfectious chronic disease in which antibodies in an individual's immune system attack the body's own substances. In lupus, known medically as lupus erythematosus, antibodi...

cryptosporidium

(Encyclopedia)cryptosporidium krĭpˌtōspərĭdˈēəm [key], genus of protozoans having at least four species; they are waterborne parasites that cause the disease cryptosporidiosis. One of the species appears to...

monkeypox

(Encyclopedia)monkeypox, rare disease caused by infection with the monkeypox virus, which is related to the viruses that cause smallpox and cowpox. The symptoms of monkeypox, which typically take 1 to 2 weeks to ap...

anaplasmosis

(Encyclopedia)anaplasmosis ănˌəplăzmōˈsĭs [key], infectious blood disease in cattle, sheep, and goats, caused by a rickettsia of the genus Anaplasma. The organism parasitizes red blood cells, causing their d...

Dessalines, Jean Jacques

(Encyclopedia)Dessalines, Jean Jacques zhäN zhäk dĕsälēnˈ [key], c.1758–1806, emperor of Haiti (1804–6), born a slave. A shrewd general, he served under Toussaint Louverture in the wars that liberated Hai...

Paraíba, state, Brazil

(Encyclopedia)Paraíba pərīēˈbə [key], state (1991 pop. 3,201,114), 21,765 sq mi (56,371 sq km), NE Brazil, on the Atlantic Ocean. The capital is João Pessoa. The state extends inland from the Atlantic to the...

appendix

(Encyclopedia)appendix, small, worm-shaped blind tube, about 3 in. (7.6 cm) long and 1⁄4 in. to 1 in. (.64–2.54 cm) thick, projecting from the cecum (part of the large intestine) on the right side of the lower ...