: a virus disease chiefly of sheep that is marked by hyperemia, cyanosis, and by swelling and sloughing of the mucous membranes especially about the mouth and tongue and is caused by a reovirus (species Bluetongue virus of the genus Orbivirus)
Examples of bluetongue in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Ever since the bluetongue virus struck nearly a year ago, German farmer Ortrun Humpert has cared for sick sheep to contain a crisis and feels increasingly abandoned by authorities.
—
Léa Pernelle, Fortune Europe, 21 Oct. 2024
Take bluetongue virus, a highly lethal ruminant disease that is spread by biting midges called Culicoides.
—Lois Parshley, Scientific American, 1 May 2018
Corrie Brown, a veterinary pathologist at the University of Georgia, says bluetongue is a prime example of how climate change introduces species to one another for the first time—expanding how diseases can spread in an unpredictable manner.
—Lois Parshley, Scientific American, 1 May 2018
Understanding how the virus operates offers a pathway to designing antiviral drugs as well as new vaccines to control bluetongue and related viral infections in animals and humans.
—Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2018
This may look like a popular children’s ball, but it’s the virus that causes bluetongue disease, a viral infection that has killed about 2 million cattle in Europe over the past two decades.
—Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2018
In 2007, the bluetongue virus—a disease spread by midge bites—began to sweep through herds of sheep and cattle across Europe.
—Popular Science, 20 May 2020
It is caused by two different viruses: epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHD) and bluetongue virus.
—Sarah Ladd, The Courier-Journal, 22 Aug. 2019
Léa Pernelle, Fortune Europe, 21 Oct. 2024
Take bluetongue virus, a highly lethal ruminant disease that is spread by biting midges called Culicoides.
—Lois Parshley, Scientific American, 1 May 2018
Corrie Brown, a veterinary pathologist at the University of Georgia, says bluetongue is a prime example of how climate change introduces species to one another for the first time—expanding how diseases can spread in an unpredictable manner.
—Lois Parshley, Scientific American, 1 May 2018
Understanding how the virus operates offers a pathway to designing antiviral drugs as well as new vaccines to control bluetongue and related viral infections in animals and humans.
—Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2018
This may look like a popular children’s ball, but it’s the virus that causes bluetongue disease, a viral infection that has killed about 2 million cattle in Europe over the past two decades.
—Discover Magazine, 23 Feb. 2018
In 2007, the bluetongue virus—a disease spread by midge bites—began to sweep through herds of sheep and cattle across Europe.
—Popular Science, 20 May 2020
It is caused by two different viruses: epizootic hemorrhagic disease virus (EHD) and bluetongue virus.
—Sarah Ladd, The Courier-Journal, 22 Aug. 2019
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bluetongue.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Bluetongue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bluetongue. Accessed 4 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical Definition
bluetongue
noun
blue·tongue
ˈblü-ˌtəŋ 
: a noncontagious virus disease especially of sheep that is caused by a reovirus of the genus Orbivirus (species Bluetongue virus) transmitted by biting flies of the genus Culicoides and that is characterized by hyperemia and cyanosis and by swelling and sloughing of the mucous membranes especially about the mouth and tongue
called also soremuzzle
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