Malta fever
- noun
- /ˈmɔltə ˈfiːvər/
- Archaic
:
fiebre de Malta
- After consuming unpasteurized milk, she developed Malta fever and experienced flu-like symptoms for weeks.
Examples
-
Goats' milk was banned by the military authorities in May 1906, thereby virtually eradicating Malta fever from the garrison.
Academic text (2000) -
It was Horrocks who discovered the microorganism of brucellosis in goats' milk, and it was he, Zammit, and Kennedy who showed that Malta fever was transmitted this way.
Academic text (2000) -
By 1902, Zammit was firmly advocating that Malta fever would prove to be insect-borne.
Academic text (2000) -
In 1893, Britain's greatest peacetime naval disaster, the loss of the battleship HMS Victoria, was attributed, rightly or wrongly, to Malta fever.
Academic text (2000) -
His book on Malta fever, published in 1897, was subsequently described as a "famous monograph... which deserves to be numbered among the great classical descriptions of disease on account of its clarity, conciseness, completeness, acute observation, and sound judgment."
Academic text (2000) -
The doctor explained that Malta fever is an infectious disease caused by brucella bacteria, resulting in flu-like symptoms.
-
In regions where livestock is present, Malta fever is a concern due to its transmission from animals to humans.
Synonyms
2
8.2
A disease caused by bacteria that animals have and people can catch, causing fever
An illness from bacteria people get from animals or raw milk that causes fever and headache
An illness people get from infected animals or raw dairy when germs enter the body, causing fever and headache
A sickness you catch from sick animals, meat, or milk that causes fever and headache
A disease people get from animals or animal products that causes repeated fevers and headaches
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'Malta' is a place and 'fever' is a high body temperature will readily infer that this refers to a kind of fever associated with Malta (i.e., a place-linked illness). However, the precise medical meaning (that it is brucellosis, zoonotic transmission, and specific symptoms) cannot be derived from the constituents, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Malta fever gets its name from the island of Malta, where many soldiers and local people caught the sickness in the 1800s after drinking raw goat or sheep milk. People put the place name next to fever, so Malta fever came to mean the 'illness' caused by bacteria called brucella.