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

In this gloomy abode jail fever was ever present.

From American Prisoners of the Revolution by Dandridge, Danske

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.

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

From George Borrow The Man and His Books by Thomas, Edward

VARIETIES.—Many of the varieties of typhus fever recognized by authors—as, for example, jail fever, ship fever, camp fever, and hospital fever—really differ in nothing but name and the circumstances under which the disease has arisen.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various