epizootic

adj.
Affecting a large number of animals at the same time within a particular region or geographic area. Used of a disease.

n.
An epizootic disease.

[EPI- + ZO(O)- + -OTIC.]

epizootically ep'i·zo·ot'i·cal·ly adv.

(ep-uh-zo-OT-ik)

adjective
Spreading quickly among many animals.

noun
Such a disease.

Etymology
French epizootique, from epi- + Greek zoion animal.

Usage
"Nor can today's oldest oldster recall the `great epizootic' of 1872. This was a flulike disease that killed at least 20,000 horse-car horses in the nation. When the epizootic quit killing horses, inventive Americans sought new pulling power." — Jack Goodman, 'Broadway Battleship's' Brief Run in New York, The Salt Lake Tribune, Jun 27, 1999.

"Said Dr. Anthony Iton, director of health and social services for Stamford. 'We have window screens. We spend more time indoors. What that taught us was you can have a relatively intense epizootic in birds and mosquitoes and not have a human epidemic. Because of our behaviors, we protect ourselves from mosquitoes.'" — Christine Woodside, Mosquitoes? Sure. Spraying? Unclear, The New York Times, May 27, 2001.

---

A disease which attacks many subjects in a region at the same time but is only occasionally present in the population; when it occurs it is widely diffused and rapidly spreading. The rarely used equivalent of epidemic in veterinary medicine.

• e. cellulitis — see equine viral rhinopneumonitis.
• e. cellulitis-pinkeye — see equine viral arteritis.
• e. chlamydiosis — a disease of rabbits, hares, deer mice, squirrels and muskrats caused by Chlamydophila psittaci M56 serovar and characterized by septicemia, fever, diarrhea.
• e. diarrhea of infant mice — see murine epizootic diarrhea.
• e. hematopoietic necrosis — reported only in Australian redfin perch and rainbow trout; characterized by massive mortalities in juvenile perch but dribbling mortalities in trout; caused by an iridovirus. May have originated in amphibians.
• e. hemorrhagic disease of deer — is caused by an orbivirus antigenically similar to the virus of Ibaraki disease, a bluetongue-like disease of cattle. The disease is clinically similar to bluetongue in sheep and causes very heavy mortalities in deer herds.
• e. hemorrhagic septicemia — see hemorrhagic septicemia.
• e. lymphangitis — a chronic, contagious disease of horses caused by Histoplasma capsulatum var farciminosum (or Blastomyces, Cryptococcus, Saccharomyces, Zymonema). It is characterized by suppurative lymphangitis, lymphadenitis and cutaneous ulcers. Lesions may also occur on the muzzle and nasal mucosa, in the eye causing keratitis, and also in the lungs causing pneumonia. The disease is an important one on its own account but it also has importance because of its similarity to glanders. Called also pseudoglanders.
• e. pneumoenteritis — see chronic respiratory disease. Called also CRD.
• e. ulcerative syndrome — important cause of loss in ornamental fish and foodfish; extensive ulceration causes loss of fins, tail, jaw, and penetrates the abdominal wall. The cause has not been identified.

/ep i zo OT ik/  [n] an outbreak of disease affecting many animals of one kind at the same time; also: the disease itself

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)