hemorrhagic fever

noun

|Updated on: 6 Jun 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 death toll from hemorrhagic fever stands at 27, with three of them confirmed as Ebola.

— Time, "Congo Confirms Six New Ebola Virus Cases as Vaccination Efforts Get Underway," 23 May 2018
The death toll from hemorrhagic fever stands at 27, with three of them confirmed as Ebola.

— Washington Post, "Congo announces 6 new confirmed cases of Ebola virus," 22 May 2018
There are now 49 hemorrhagic fever cases: 22 confirmed as Ebola, 21 probable and 6 suspected, according to Health Minister Oly Ilunga.

— saleh mwanamilongo, chicagotribune.com, "Nurse dead in Congo as Ebola vaccination campaign starts," 21 May 2018
The Democratic Republic of Congo declared a new outbreak of Ebola in the northwest of the country, where 17 people died from viral hemorrhagic fever over the past five weeks.

— Fortune, "Congo Declares Ebola Outbreak After 17 People Die From Virus," 9 May 2018
More on Ebola In addition, Congo’s public-health ministry has confirmed 11 new cases of the hemorrhagic fever in the northwestern town of Bikoro.

— betsy mckay, WSJ, "Congo at ‘Very High’ Risk as Ebola Strikes Major City," 18 May 2018
Vast, impoverished Congo has contained several past Ebola outbreaks but the spread of the hemorrhagic fever to an urban area poses a major challenge.

— saleh mwanamilongo, USA TODAY, "Congo’s Ebola risk ‘very high’ as confirmed virus cases rise," 18 May 2018
The virus is a hemorrhagic fever that kills many of its victims — but that death rate can be highly variable depending on the resources patients and doctors have access to.

— julia belluz, Vox, "There’s a new outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.," 11 May 2018
Rodents can transmit the plague, salmonella, hemorrhagic fevers, as well as a host of other horrible sounding diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

— alessandra potenza, The Verge, "Puke, poop, and sweat: a ranking of New York City’s grossest attractions," 9 May 2018

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

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

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Medical Dictionary

hemorrhagic fever

noun

medical Definition of hemorrhagic fever

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