relapsing fever

noun

: a variable acute epidemic disease that is marked by recurring high fever usually lasting three to seven days and is caused by a spirochete (genus Borrelia) transmitted by the bites of lice and ticks

Examples of relapsing fever in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This wasn’t a total shock, as B. lonestari is a close relative of B. miyamotoi, which is known to cause tickborne relapsing fever. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Mar. 2023

This led to their official diagnosis of tickborne relapsing fever caused by the bacteria. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Mar. 2023

New research suggests the bacteria infected the 75-year-old man with tickborne relapsing fever, an uncommon condition that causes nausea, recurring fever, headaches and muscle and joint aches. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Mar. 2023

Thus, the relapsing fever can be spread by the bite of larval ticks as well as the customary nymphs that cause Lyme. —Wendy Orent, Discover Magazine, 11 Dec. 2013

Word History

First Known Use

1828, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

relapsing fever

noun

: a variable acute infectious disease that is marked by sudden recurring episodes of high fever which usually last from three to seven days, are typically accompanied by myalgia, arthralgia, headache, nausea, and chills, and often end in a crisis stage marked by a spike in fever followed by an afebrile period and that is caused by a spirochete of the genus Borrelia (as B. hermsii, B. parkerii, or B. recurrentis) that circulates in the blood and is transmitted by the bite of a body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) or a tick of the genus Ornithodoros see mianeh fever