Rocky Mountain spotted fever
- noun
- /ˈrɑːki ˈmaʊntən ˈspɑːtɪd ˈfiːvər/
- Specialized
:
fiebre manchada de las Montañas Rocosas
- People who are bitten by infected ticks may develop Rocky Mountain spotted fever, marked by fever, headache, and a rash.
- Rocky Mountain spotted fever disease
Examples
-
Ticks transmit the causative agents of a variety of serious human diseases, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease, and ehrlichiosis.
Academic text (1998) -
Several tick-borne diseases occur in Mississippi: Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, and tick paralysis.
Academic text (1998) -
What soon followed was the establishment of a multidisciplinary public health program to control this newly identified disease, now called Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which was caused by Rickettsia rickettsii, and a search was conducted for other diseases in nature that resulted from the bite of pathogen-infected ticks.
Academic text (2015) -
The tick transmits Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which can lead to severe symptoms if not treated promptly.
-
A distinctive rash appears in patients with Rocky Mountain spotted fever around 2 to 14 days after being bitten by an infected tick.
Synonyms
1
7.2
An illness caused by germs that gives you fever and a spotted skin rash
A disease from tick bites that causes fever and a spotted rash
An illness spread by tick bites that causes fever and body aches
An illness people get when ticks, mites, or lice spread tiny germs
An illness caused by bacteria spread by bites from ticks, mites, or lice
Surface Forms
Morphology
rocky + mountain + spotted + fever
The phrase transparently combines a place name (Rocky Mountain) with 'spotted' (having a rash) and 'fever' (high temperature), so a B1 learner who knows the words can infer it refers to a fever with spots associated with the Rocky Mountains. However, the precise clinical meaning (a specific rickettsial disease transmitted by ticks) and its medical implications are specialized and not derivable from the constituents, so the expression is only partially predictable.
Etymology
Rocky Mountain spotted fever comes from the place and the signs of the illness: it was first found near the Rocky Mountains and people had a spotted rash and a high fever after tick bites. So, the name now means a serious 'disease' you get from tick bites that causes fever and spots.