hemorrhagic fever

noun

Updated on: 1 Mar 2018

Definition of hemorrhagic fever

: any of a diverse group of virus diseases (such as Lassa fever and Ebola) that are usually transmitted by arthropods or rodents and are characterized by a sudden onset, fever, aching, bleeding in the internal organs, petechiae, and shock

Recent Examples of hemorrhagic fever from the Web

The cross-border fatality conjures up bad memories of another hemorrhagic fever, Ebola, which freely crossed borders in the horrific 2014 West African outbreak.

— clifton leaf, Fortune, "When It Comes to the Tiniest Killers, Defense Is the Best Offense," 12 Feb. 2018
Marburg virus disease, which causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever, ranks among the most virulent pathogens known to infect humans, according to the World Health Organization.

— susan scutti, CNN, "Deadly Marburg virus outbreak declared in Uganda," 31 Oct. 2017
On average, the mortality rate is about 50% for this hemorrhagic fever, which was first detected in 1967 during simultaneous outbreaks in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and in Belgrade, Serbia.

— susan scutti, CNN, "Deadly Marburg virus outbreak declared in Uganda," 31 Oct. 2017
But those who become infected with a second serotype later are at risk of dengue hemorrhagic fever/dengue shock syndrome (DHF/DSS), which can cause massive fluid loss, organ failure, and death.

— jon cohen, Science | AAAS, "Dengue antibodies might trigger life-threatening infections," 2 Nov. 2017
The hemorrhagic fever, which can be fatal in half or more cases, spread from West Africa to a handful of cases in Europe and the U.S., including among health care workers.

— thomas m. burton, WSJ, "Ebola Vaccines Show Promise in New Study," 11 Oct. 2017
All three viruses cause highly dangerous hemorrhagic fever diseases.

— bradley j. fikes, sandiegouniontribune.com, "San Diego's Mapp gets $46 million Ebola drug contract," 3 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hemorrhagic fever.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

First Known Use of hemorrhagic fever

1948

Medical Dictionary