0 A virulent disease or poison is dangerous and spreads or affects people very quickly:
1 (of a disease) dangerous and spreading quickly, or (of poison) having an effect very quickly:
virulent speech
Several newspapers mounted virulent attacks.
Epidemiological consequences of a pathogen having both virulent and avirulent modes of transmission : the case of rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus.
However, not all strains are considered virulent strains.
Following their arguments, at the beginning of the infection, when the density of uninfected cells is high, selection can favour a highly virulent virus.
Although he died of tuberculosis, there was no sign of the equally virulent smallpox, against which both brothers had been vaccinated in childhood.
At last there was a large enough population of susceptible hosts to sustain the most virulent organisms.
By mid-century the dispute had apparently become even more virulent.
Therefore, only 50% of the progeny of this cross should be virulent.
By causing the prevalence of relatively benign diseases to decline, such improvements might enhance the chances of more virulent parasites to invade.
