Unraveling the History of the Word ‘Virus’: From ‘Contagium Vivum Fluidum’ to ‘Biological Toxic Chemical’

Who first described the virus as “virus” as some kind of “biological toxic chemical”?

Martinus Beijerinck

The term “virus” was first coined by a Dutch microbiologist named Martinus Beijerinck in the late 1800s. Beijerinck was conducting research on the cause of the tobacco mosaic disease, which was devastating tobacco crops at the time. He discovered that the infectious agent responsible for the disease was too small to be seen under a microscope and could not be cultured on nutrient media, leading him to call it a “contagium vivum fluidum”, or a “living contagious fluid”. Later, Beijerinck described the virus as a “biological toxic chemical” due to its ability to cause disease.

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