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Medical Definition of Murray Valley encephalitis
1. A severe encephalitis with a high mortality rate occurring in the Murray Valley of Australia; the disease is most severe in children and is characterised by headache, fever, malaise, drowsiness or convulsions, and rigidity of the neck; extensive brain damage may result; it is caused by the Murray Valley encephalitis virus (genus Flavivirus). Synonym: Australian X disease, Australian X encephalitis. (05 Mar 2000)