blackwater fever

American  

noun

Pathology.

1. a severe form of malaria characterized by kidney damage and hemoglobinuria resulting in urine that is dark red or black.

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blackwater fever British  

noun

1. med a rare and serious complication of malaria, characterized by massive destruction of red blood cells, producing dark red or blackish urine

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Etymology

Origin of blackwater fever

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

The disease can produce severe maternal anemia, iron deficiency, or it can spread to the kidneys and the lungs and cause a condition known as blackwater fever.

From Salon • Jun. 3, 2024

Utterly finished, the major contracted blackwater fever in jail and died too.

From Time Magazine Archive

One dare not go into the jungle—it's too full of malaria and blackwater fever.

From The Jungle Girl by Casserly, Gordon

No little reputation as a cure and preventive for blackwater fever does vermouth enjoy!

From Sketches of the East Africa Campaign by Dolbey, Robert Valentine

Died of blackwater fever before the line got past this camp.

From The Sea and the Jungle by Tomlinson, H. M. (Henry Major)