picornavirus

/pi kawr"neuh vuy'reuhs, -kawr'neuh vuy"-/, n., pl. picornaviruses.

any of a group of small, RNA-containing viruses of the family Picornaviridae, infectious to humans and other animals, and including the poliovirus and the rhinoviruses that cause the common cold.

[1960-65; PICO- (in the sense "very small") + RNA + VIRUS]

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Any of a group of the smallest known animal viruses.

(Pico refers to their small size, rna to their core of RNA.) This group of spheroidal viruses includes viruses that attack the vertebrate intestinal tract and often invade the central nervous system as well (such as polioviruses), viruses that infect tissues in the vertebrate nose (rhinoviruses), and the virus agent of foot-and-mouth disease.

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▪ virus group

      any of a group of viruses constituting the family Picornaviridae, a large group of the smallest known animal viruses, “pico” referring to small size and “rna” referring to its core of ribonucleic acid (RNA). This group includes enteroviruses, which attack the vertebrate intestinal tract and often invade the central nervous system as well; rhinoviruses (rhinovirus), which infect the tissues in the vertebrate nose; and the virus agent of foot-and-mouth disease. Among the enteroviruses are polioviruses, echoviruses (enteric, cytopathogenic, human, orphan), and Coxsackie viruses. Echoviruses cause fever with rash and meningitis. Coxsackie viruses cause sore throat or fever with chest or abdominal pains. The virus particle lacks an envelope, is spheroidal, measures from 20 to 30 nanometres (nm; 1 nm = 10^{- 9} metre) across, and is covered with subunits called capsomeres.

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