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yellow fever
noun
: an acute infectious disease that is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical South America, is marked by symptoms (such as fever, muscle pain, and headache) of sudden onset which typically resolve within a few days but are sometimes followed by more serious symptoms (such as jaundice, high fever, and hemorrhage), and is caused by a flavivirus (species Yellow fever virus of the genus Flavivirus) transmitted especially by the yellow-fever mosquito
Examples of yellow fever in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
County officials warned that the mosquito can transmit diseases like dengue, chikungunya, Zika and yellow fever.
—Nollyanne Delacruz, The Mercury News, 16 Nov. 2024
In 2021 and 2022, the test was able to link cases of encephalitis among transplant recipients to yellow fever in their organ donor.
—Aria Bendix, NBC News, 12 Nov. 2024
Despite its name, the yellow fever mosquito isn’t transmitting the disease in L.A. County.
—Jaclyn Cosgrove, Los Angeles Times, 6 June 2024
The researchers suspected that hearing played a role in mosquito mating behavior after observing the courtship routines for Aedes aegypti — mosquitoes that spread diseases like dengue, Zika and yellow fever.
—Sharon Udasin, The Hill, 5 Nov. 2024
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Word History
First Known Use
1738, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“Yellow fever.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yellow%20fever. Accessed 27 Nov. 2024.
Kids Definition
yellow fever
noun
: an infectious disease of warm regions (as sub-Saharan Africa) that is marked by fever, headache, muscle aches, yellowness of the skin, and sometimes death and that is caused by a virus transmitted by a mosquito
Medical Definition
yellow fever
noun
: an infectious disease of sudden onset that is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical South America and includes acute symptoms (as fever, muscle pain, headache, and nausea) which typically resolve within a few days but are sometimes followed by more serious symptoms (as jaundice, abdominal pain, high fever, hemorrhage, and kidney impairment) which may lead to death
Note: Yellow fever is caused by a single-stranded RNA virus of the genus Flavivirus (species Yellow fever virus) transmitted from monkey to human or human to human especially by the yellow-fever mosquito.
Few Americans realize that yellow fever was not always a disease of the faraway tropics. In 1878, an outbreak of yellow fever—the virus carried to the United States in mosquitoes from Africa—killed 20,000 people in the Mississippi Valley.—Mary Roach, The New York Times Book Review
Although mass vaccination campaigns in Africa between the 1940s and 1960s led to the near disappearance of yellow fever, inadequately immunized populations and urbanization set the stage for the disease to reemerge. By the 1990s, there were an estimated 200 000 annual cases, with 30 000 deaths.—Clem Spalding, The Journal of the American Medical Association
called also yellow jack
More from Merriam-Webster on yellow fever
Nglish: Translation of yellow fever for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about yellow fever
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