typhus

n. Infectious fever with a purple rash, headaches, and usu. Delirium. [greek, = stupor]

n. A contagious continued fever lasting from two to three weeks, attended with great prostration and cerebral disorder, and marked by a copious eruption of red spots upon the body. Also called jail fever, famine fever, putrid fever, spottled fever, etc. See Jail fever, under Jail.