n. a disease caused by parasitic fungi of the genera Rhizopus, Absidia, and Mucor. The disease affects the sinuses, the central nervous system, the lungs, and the skin tissues. The fungi are able to grow within the blood vessels of the lungs and nervous tissue, thus causing blood clots which cut off the blood supply (see infarction). Treatment with the antibiotic *amphotericin has proved effective.