[ noun ] an acute and highly contagious viral disease marked by distinct red spots followed by a rash; occurs primarily in children <noun.state>
Phil Hammond, a biologist at the Sea Mammal Research Unit in Cambridge, England, said morbilli virus may weaken some dolphins after they contracted another disease that destroys their livers.
Alex Aguilar, a marine biologist at Barcelona University in Spain who is coordinating the international investigation into the deaths, said the dolphins had liver lesions caused by some virus other than morbilli or by toxins accumulated in the organ.