1. a viral disease of rabbits characterized by swelling of the head and body, caused by a poxvirus and often fatal
Usage: medical/veterinary term; uncountable noun

Examples

• Myxomatosis is a serious threat to wild rabbit populations in Europe and Australia.
• The disease myxomatosis was deliberately introduced to control rabbit populations in Australia during the 1950s.
• Veterinarians can diagnose myxomatosis by observing the characteristic swelling and discharge in infected rabbits.
• Rabbits with myxomatosis often show symptoms within a week of infection.
• The spread of myxomatosis has significantly reduced rabbit numbers in some regions.