Skip to main content
undulant fever

undulant fever

9.9
A disease people get from animals or animal products that causes repeated fevers and headaches
  • noun
  • /ˈʌndjʊlənt ˈfiːvər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : fiebre undulante
  • In humans, the brucellosis bacteria cause undulant fever, which is contracted by drinking the unpasteurized milk of an infected animal.
  • undulant fever is brucellosis
  • contract undulant fever

Examples

  • Just recently, the Sunshine Project learned that for fourteen months, Texas A&M University concealed an incident in which a student researcher fell seriously ill from undulant fever.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Occasionally, people contract brucellosis—called undulant fever in humans—from eating unpasteurized goat cheeses.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Most people contracted brucellosis or undulant fever from drinking raw milk; however, milk pasteurization largely eliminated this source of infection in the 1940s.

  • Occasionally, people contract brucellosis—called undulant fever in humans—from eating unpasteurized goat cheeses.

Synonyms

brucellosis
vsundulant fever
  • Specialized
2 8.2

A disease caused by bacteria that animals have and people can catch, causing fever

highlights recurring fevers rather than the animal origin
Gibraltar fever
vsundulant fever
  • Archaic
8.1

An illness from bacteria people get from animals or raw milk that causes fever and headache

emphasizes the recurring fever pattern rather than only symptoms
Malta fever
vsundulant fever
  • Archaic
8.9

A disease people get from animals or raw milk that causes fever and flu-like symptoms

focuses on recurring fever cycles rather than general flu symptoms
Mediterranean fever
vsundulant fever
  • Specialized
7.6

An illness people get from infected animals or raw dairy when germs enter the body, causing fever and headache

stresses recurring fevers rather than regional naming
rock fever
vsundulant fever
  • Specialized
9.4

A sickness you catch from sick animals, meat, or milk that causes fever and headache

focuses on recurrent fever pattern rather than contamination source

Surface Forms

Morphology

undulant + fever

The adjective 'undulant' (wavelike, fluctuating) combined with 'fever' allows a learner to infer a fever that rises and falls, so the recurrent/undulating quality is derivable from the constituents. However, the phrase denotes a specific infectious disease (brucellosis) often zoonotic, and that etiological/specialized medical information is not predictable from the parts, making the term only partially transparent.

Etymology

Undulant fever comes from undulant, a word that means 'moving like a wave'. The image is a fever that goes up and down like waves, so the name describes a sickness where fevers come back.