jail fever

British  

noun

1. a former name for typhus, once a common disease in jails

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Example Sentences

Among the possibilities mentioned were jail fever, camp fever, eruptive military fever, and autumnal fever.

From "An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793" by Jim Murphy

Here ill luck still followed him, for he caught the jail fever.

From Literary Byways by Andrews, William

A few days after our arrival I was laid low by a mild attack of jail fever, of which I had doubtless brought the seeds from St. Malo.

From Humphrey Bold A Story of the Times of Benbow by Strang, Herbert

He had caught the jail fever, which had long raged in the Carcel de la Corte, where I was imprisoned.

From The Zincali: an account of the gypsies of Spain by Borrow, George Henry

Many of them courted acquaintance with the Quakeress who hesitated not to plunge into gloomy prison-cells, nor to penetrate pest-houses decimated with jail fever, in pursuance of her mission.

From Elizabeth Fry by Pitman, Mrs. E. R.