What is "yellow fever"

Yellow \Yel"low\ (y[e^]l"l[-o]), a. [Compar. Yellower (y[e^]l"l[-o]*[~e]r); superl. Yellowest.] [OE. yelow, yelwe, [yogh]elow, [yogh]eoluw, from AS. geolu; akin to D. geel, OS. & OHG. gelo, G. gelb, Icel. gulr, Sw. gul, Dan. guul, L. helvus light bay, Gr. chlo`n young verdure, chlwro`s greenish yellow, Skr. hari tawny, yellowish. [root]49. Cf. Chlorine, Gall a bitter liquid, Gold, Yolk.]

1. Being of a bright saffronlike color; of the color of gold or brass; having the hue of that part of the rainbow, or of the solar spectrum, which is between the orange and the green.

   Her yellow hair was browded [braided] in a tress.
   --Chaucer.

   A sweaty reaper from his tillage brought First fruits, the green ear and the yellow sheaf.
   --Milton.

   The line of yellow light dies fast away.
   --Keble.

2. Cowardly; hence, dishonorable; mean; contemptible; as, he has a yellow streak. [Slang]

3. Sensational; -- said of some newspapers, their makers, etc.; as, yellow journal, journalism, etc. [Colloq.] Yellow atrophy (Med.), a fatal affection of the liver, in which it undergoes fatty degeneration, and becomes rapidly smaller and of a deep yellow tinge. The marked symptoms are black vomit, delirium, convulsions, coma, and jaundice. Yellow bark, calisaya bark. Yellow bass (Zo["o]l.), a North American fresh-water bass ( Morone interrupta) native of the lower parts of the Mississippi and its tributaries. It is yellow, with several more or less broken black stripes or bars. Called also barfish. Yellow berry. (Bot.) Same as Persian berry, under Persian. Yellow boy, a gold coin, as a guinea. [Slang] --Arbuthnot. Yellow brier. (Bot.) See under Brier. Yellow bugle (Bot.), a European labiate plant ( Ajuga Cham[ae]pitys). Yellow bunting (Zo["o]l.), the European yellow-hammer. Yellow cat (Zo["o]l.), a yellow catfish; especially, the bashaw. Yellow copperas (Min.), a hydrous sulphate of iron; -- called also copiapite. Yellow copper ore, a sulphide of copper and iron; copper pyrites. See Chalcopyrite. Yellow cress (Bot.), a yellow-flowered, cruciferous plant ( Barbarea pr[ae]cox), sometimes grown as a salad plant. Yellow dock. (Bot.) See the Note under Dock. Yellow earth, a yellowish clay, colored by iron, sometimes used as a yellow pigment. Yellow fever (Med.), a malignant, contagious, febrile disease of warm climates, attended with jaundice, producing a yellow color of the skin, and with the black vomit. See Black vomit, in the Vocabulary. Yellow flag, the quarantine flag. See under Quarantine, and 3d Flag. Yellow jack.

   1. The yellow fever. See under 2d Jack.

   2. The quarantine flag. See under Quarantine. Yellow jacket (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of American social wasps of the genus Vespa, in which the color of the body is partly bright yellow. These wasps are noted for their irritability, and for their painful stings. Yellow lead ore (Min.), wulfenite. Yellow lemur (Zo["o]l.), the kinkajou. Yellow macauco (Zo["o]l.), the kinkajou. Yellow mackerel (Zo["o]l.), the jurel. Yellow metal. Same as Muntz metal, under Metal. Yellow ocher (Min.), an impure, earthy variety of brown iron ore, which is used as a pigment. Yellow oxeye (Bot.), a yellow-flowered plant ( Chrysanthemum segetum) closely related to the oxeye daisy. Yellow perch (Zo["o]l.), the common American perch. See Perch. Yellow pike (Zo["o]l.), the wall-eye. Yellow pine (Bot.), any of several kinds of pine; also, their yellowish and generally durable timber. Among the most common are valuable species are Pinus mitis and Pinus palustris of the Eastern and Southern States, and Pinus ponderosa and Pinus Arizonica of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific States. Yellow plover (Zo["o]l.), the golden plover. Yellow precipitate (Med. Chem.), an oxide of mercury which is thrown down as an amorphous yellow powder on adding corrosive sublimate to limewater. Yellow puccoon. (Bot.) Same as Orangeroot. Yellow rail (Zo["o]l.), a small American rail ( Porzana Noveboracensis) in which the lower parts are dull yellow, darkest on the breast. The back is streaked with brownish yellow and with black, and spotted with white. Called also yellow crake. Yellow rattle, Yellow rocket. (Bot.) See under Rattle, and Rocket. Yellow Sally (Zo["o]l.), a greenish or yellowish European stone fly of the genus Chloroperla; -- so called by anglers. Yellow sculpin (Zo["o]l.), the dragonet. Yellow snake (Zo["o]l.), a West Indian boa ( Chilobothrus inornatus) common in Jamaica. It becomes from eight to ten long. The body is yellowish or yellowish green, mixed with black, and anteriorly with black lines. Yellow spot.

      1. (Anat.) A small yellowish spot with a central pit, the fovea centralis, in the center of the retina where vision is most accurate. See Eye.

      2. (Zo["o]l.) A small American butterfly ( Polites Peckius) of the Skipper family. Its wings are brownish, with a large, irregular, bright yellow spot on each of the hind wings, most conspicuous beneath. Called also Peck's skipper. See Illust. under Skipper, n., 5. Yellow tit (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of crested titmice of the genus Machlolophus, native of India. The predominating colors of the plumage are yellow and green. Yellow viper (Zo["o]l.), the fer-de-lance. Yellow warbler (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of American warblers of the genus Dendroica in which the predominant color is yellow, especially Dendroica [ae]stiva, which is a very abundant and familiar species; -- called also garden warbler, golden warbler, summer yellowbird, summer warbler, and yellow-poll warbler. Yellow wash (Pharm.), yellow oxide of mercury suspended in water, -- a mixture prepared by adding corrosive sublimate to limewater. Yellow wren (Zo["o]l.)

         1. The European willow warbler.

         2. The European wood warbler.

n. 1 (context pathology English) An acute febrile illness of tropical regions, caused by a flavivirus and spread by mosquitoes, characterised by jaundice, black vomit and the absence of urination. 2 (context slang English) The attraction of a person of non-East Asian descent towards people of East Asian descent.

n. caused by a flavivirus transmitted by a mosquito [syn: yellow jack, black vomit]

Yellow fever is an acute viral disease. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains particularly in the back, and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. In some people within a day of improving, the fever comes back, abdominal pain occurs, and liver damage begins causing yellow skin. If this occurs, the risk of bleeding and kidney problems is also increased.

The disease is caused by the yellow fever virus and is spread by the bite of an infected female mosquito. It infects only humans, other primates, and several species of mosquitoes. In cities, it is spread primarily by mosquitoes of the Aedes aegypti type. The virus is an RNA virus of the genus Flavivirus. The disease may be difficult to tell apart from other illnesses, especially in the early stages. To confirm a suspected case, blood sample testing with polymerase chain reaction is required.

A safe and effective vaccine against yellow fever exists and some countries require vaccinations for travelers. Other efforts to prevent infection include reducing the population of the transmitting mosquito. In areas where yellow fever is common and vaccination is uncommon, early diagnosis of cases and immunization of large parts of the population is important to prevent outbreaks. Once infected, management is symptomatic with no specific measures effective against the virus. The second and more severe phase results in death in up to half of people without treatment.

Yellow fever causes 200,000 infections and 30,000 deaths every year, with nearly 90% of these occurring in Africa. Nearly a billion people live in an area of the world where the disease is common. It is common in tropical areas of South America and Africa, but not in Asia. Since the 1980s, the number of cases of yellow fever has been increasing. This is believed to be due to fewer people being immune, more people living in cities, people moving frequently, and changing climate. The disease originated in Africa, from where it spread to South America through the slave trade in the 17th century. Since the 17th century, several major outbreaks of the disease have occurred in the Americas, Africa, and Europe. In the 18th and 19th centuries, yellow fever was seen as one of the most dangerous infectious diseases. In 1927 yellow fever virus became the first human virus to be isolated.

Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease.

Yellow fever may also refer to:

• The Yellow Fever, fan club for New Zealand football team Wellington Phoenix FC
• Yellow Fever (album), a 1975 blues-rock album by Hot Tuna
• Yellow Fever!, a 2006 Latin-electronica album by Señor Coconut (Uwe Schmidt)
• Yellow Fever (play), 1982 play by R. A. Shiomi
• "Yellow Fever" (Supernatural), episode of the television series Supernatural
• Yellow Fever (film), a 2011 short student film
• "Yellow Fever", a song by Bloodhound Gang from their 1996 album One Fierce Beer Coaster
• A slang term for Asian fetish, a sexual preference for people of Asian ancestry by people of non-Asian ancestry

Yellow Fever was the sixth album by the American blues rock band Hot Tuna, recorded and released in 1975 as Grunt BFL1-1238. The album was also released in Quadraphonic as Grunt BFD1-1238. The album rose to #97 on the Billboard charts.

Yellow Fever is a play by R. A. Shiomi which takes place on Powell Street in Japantown, Vancouver, a gathering place for the local Japanese-Canadian culture. Set in the 1970s, the Sam Spade-like main character, Sam Shikaze, must work to unravel the mysteries that surround him. First produced by the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in 1982, it received positive reviews and had a successful run off-Broadway.

Yellow Fever is a short film by Rod Stewart's Ambition, created in one week for Campus MovieFest in 2011. The short played at Campus MovieFest's New York University competition in New York, NY where it won the Audience award, and went on to screen at the CMF International Grand Finale. The title makes reference to a slang term for an Asian Fetish.