Meanings
nounBK virus (plural BK viruses)
plural BK viruses
- A virus very similar to JC virus, ubiquitous and rarely causing disease in healthy people but creating urogenital problems in the immunosuppressed.
Synonyms: BKV, BK polyomavirus, BKPyV
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA virus very similar to JC virus, ubiquitous and rarely causing disease in healthy people but creating urogenital problems in the immunosuppressed.
Similar
Origin
From the initials B.K., pertaining to a renal transplant patient whose urine the virus was first isolated from in 1971.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
BK virus. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/BK%20virus
MLA
“BK virus.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/BK%20virus. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “BK virus,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/BK%20virus.
Source: BK virus on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.