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 (Orthoflavivirus flavi) transmitted especially by the yellow-fever mosquito

Examples of yellow fever in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

They have been known to spread dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever. —Mary Walrath-Holdridge, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025

Aedes aegypti -- known for its capability to transmit diseases such as dengue, yellow fever, chikungunya and Zika -- were detected in San Jose near Kelley Park, the County of Santa Clara Vector Control District announced on Friday. —Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 27 Oct. 2025

This iconic New Orleans hotel previous served as a theater, an orphanage and school and a medical ward during the yellow fever epidemics, with a storied history dating back to 1817. —Noreen Kompanik, Boston Herald, 26 Oct. 2025

Smallpox, malaria, chickenpox, influenza, and yellow fever all came thanks to Columbus and his men, but not intentionally. —Lee Habeeb, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1738, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for yellow fever

• unbeliever
• achiever
• believer
• deceiver
• perceiver
• receiver
• reliever
• retriever
• transceiver
• cleaver
• leaver
• weaver

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, is caused by a flavivirus (Orthoflavivirus flavi) transmitted especially by the yellow-fever mosquito, and is marked by acute symptoms (such as fever, muscle pain, headache, and nausea) which typically resolve within a few days but are sometimes followed by more serious symptoms (such as jaundice, abdominal pain, high fever, hemorrhage, and kidney impairment) which may lead to death

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