Infectious Disease Names – What Do They Mean?

World Dictionary Day seems the perfect occasion to consider the meaning and origin behind some of the most well-known infectious disease names. We’ve spoken with Dr. Steve Berger, our co-founder, to learn more.

The Disease Everyone Keeps Talking About – Coronavirus

Let’s start with the obvious one. COVID-19, which began as a localized outbreak of “Novel Coronavirus” infection,  is now a name almost every household worldwide will know. COVID-19 comes from COrona VIrus Disease, which first appeared in 2019, with the disease itself being caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

SARS was a prominent name in the early 2000s when it started causing infections worldwide, with a more straightforward acronym Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome. 

COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 have been used throughout mainstream media, drawing attention to contagious diseases, but not without a certain degree of confusion, similar to the one sometimes seen with HIV and AIDS. A helpful analogy is that the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) causes Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), much like SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19.

A lesser-known fact outside the medical community is that there are many different species of infectious diseases. Each type is given a name derived from the kind of virus and often its discovery whereabouts. As of 2020, seven coronavirus species have been associated with human disease:   

•       HCoV 229E 
•       HCoV OC43 
•       SARS-CoV 
•       HCoV NL63 (New Haven coronavirus) 
•       HCoV HKU1 
•       MERS-CoV (the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus) 
•       SARS-CoV-2 

Names and Types of Infectious Diseases

Not all diseases are given acronyms, and the discordance between the name of the virus and the name of the disease is unusual. In many cases, viruses that infect humans are named for the disease that they cause.  For example, poliomyelitis is caused by the poliomyelitis virus, while influenza causes the flu. 

Disease names are typically taken from either the area of the body it affects, where it was discovered, or who discovered it. Sometimes diseases are named for their symptoms or transmission.

For instance, poliovirus’s name is derived from the Ancient Greek poliós, meaning grey, as it attacks nerve cells located in the grey matter at the center of the spinal cord. Influenza originates from the Italian term for influence. It was believed the illness was caused by ill omens from the sky, just as it was thought that another infectious disease, malaria, was caused by foul swamp air (mala aria).

Even the current pandemic has symbolic origins for its name, as the virus resembles a crown (Latin, corona) under the electron microscope. Similarly, rotavirus, a common cause of childhood diarrhea, resembles small wheels (Latin, rota). 

On the other hand, the Ebola disease takes its name from the village it was first discovered near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1976. Likewise, the West Nile virus was first identified in the West Nile District of Uganda in 1937; and the Zika virus in the Zika Forest of Uganda during the 1940s. Two coronaviruses identified this year are named after the places they were first reported New Haven, Connecticut, and the Middle East.

Of course, these aren’t the only diseases of note or the only ones with interesting names; here is a list of some other interesting infectious diseases: 

• Chickenpox – Varicella
• Common cold – commonly Rhinovirus
• Diphtheria
• E. coli
• Giardiasis
• Hemorrhagic fever virus (VHFs) –
  • Alkhurma hemorrhagic fever
  • Chapare hemorrhagic fever
  • Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever
  • Ebola
  • Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS)
  • Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD)
  • Lassa Fever
  • Lujo hemorrhagic fever
  • Marburg hemorrhagic fever
  • Omsk hemorrhagic fever
  • Rift Valley fever (RVF)
  • Severe Dengue
  • Yellow Fever virus – Flavirus febricis
• HIV/AIDS
• Human herpes virus
• Infectious mononucleosis
• Influenza (flu)
• Lyme disease
• Malaria
• Measles
• Meningitis
• Mumps – Mumps orthorubulavirus
• Poliomyelitis (polio)
• Pneumonia
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever – Rickettsia rickettsii
• Rubella (German measles)
• Salmonella infections
• Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
• Shingles (herpes zoster and varicella-zoster)
• Tetanus
• Tick-borne encephalitis virus
• Toxic shock syndrome – Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome
• Tuberculosis
• Viral hepatitis
• West Nile virus – Flavivirus
• Whooping cough (pertussis)

A Double-edged Sword

Naming a pathogen for the region discovered can be stigmatizing and have geopolitical ramifications. The World Health Organization considered excluding the terms “Wuhan” and “China” when naming the current pandemic disease. Even the naming of disease after the discovered professional or in someone else’s honor can be considered contentious, as with Listeria. 

Listeria, found in contaminated food, was named after Joseph Lister, who pioneered hospital health standards throughout his career. He championed the use of early antiseptics and even such novel ideas as washing hands. Imagine needing to justify the benefits of cleanliness in a hospital! However, during his career, Lister was shunned for his approach despite proving it hugely successful in preventing surgical mortality. 

Would you consider it an honor to have your name immortalized in naming a species, even if it is a bacteria? 

The GIDEON Way: Improving Public Health

GIDEON is one of the most well-known and comprehensive global databases for infectious diseases. Data is refreshed daily, and the GIDEON API allows medical professionals and researchers access to a continuous stream of data. Whether your research involves quantifying data, learning about specific microbes, or testing out differential diagnosis tools– GIDEON has you covered with a program that has met standards for accessibility excellence.