Myxomatoses

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Fatal viral infections of rabbits that cause swelling of the eyelids, lumps on the skin and high fever, spread by biting insects
2. Serious contagious diseases in rabbits marked by tumour-like swellings and inflammation, often carried by mosquitoes and fleas
3. Deadly illnesses affecting European rabbits, characterised by swollen tissues around the face and body and transmitted through insect bites

Etymology: Myxomatoses is the plural of myxomatosis, which follows the Greek pattern seen in neuroses and diagnoses, where "-osis" becomes "-oses." Myxomatosis combines the Greek "myxa," meaning "slime" or "mucus," with "-oma," the suffix for a tumour, and "-osis," a suffix for an abnormal or diseased condition. A myxoma is a tumour of soft, jelly-like tissue, and the disease gets its name from the swollen growths it produces under the skin. The disease is caused by the myxoma virus, which affects European rabbits and is almost always fatal to them. People deliberately spread it to control rabbit populations in Australia and parts of Europe, where it killed rabbits in enormous numbers.