Main Entry: east coast fever

Function: noun

: an acute highly fatal febrile disease of cattle especially of eastern and southern Africa that is caused by a protozoan of the genus Theileria (T. parva) transmitted by ticks especially of the genera Rhipicephalus and Hyalomma and is marked by intense fever, labored breathing, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, swelling of the lymph nodes, and generalized weakness and emaciation