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Glite Dictionary
Marburg virus

Marburg virus

1 8.0
A very infectious virus that causes a serious fever illness in people and monkeys
  • noun
  • /ˈmɑːrbɜrɡ ˈvaɪrəs/
  • Specialized
translation icon : virus de Marburgo
  • A miner in Uganda enters a shaft filled with bats carrying the Marburg virus and, somehow, by ingesting or breathing bat wastes, gets infected.

Examples

  • During the outbreak, many healthcare workers faced grave risks from the Marburg virus as they treated infected patients.

  • deadly Marburg virus

    Blog text (17)

  • The outbreak of the Marburg virus in Angola alarmed health officials worldwide due to its high transmission rate.

  • Research indicates that the Marburg virus, transmitted from bats, poses a significant threat to public health in affected regions.

Surface Forms

Marburg virus singular
Marburg viruses plural

Morphology

Marburg + virus

This follows the productive and transparent English pattern 'X virus' meaning 'a virus associated with or named after X', so a B1 learner who knows the constituents (even if Marburg is recognized as a place/name) can infer it refers to a particular virus. Specific clinical details (filovirus, mortality) are not derivable from the words, but the basic referential meaning is compositional and therefore transparent.

Etymology

Marburg virus is named after the German city of Marburg, where the first known outbreak happened in 1967 when monkeys brought from Africa made laboratory workers sick. That's why the name Marburg virus refers to that place and the serious illness it causes.