Pappataci Fever

pappataci fever [¦päp·ə¦tä·chē ‚fē·vər]

(medicine)

phlebotomus fever

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Pappataci Fever 

(also called sandfly fever, phlebotomus fever, or three-day fever), a viral disease that is transmitted to humans through the bite of the female sandfly Phlebotomus pappatasii. The disease arises acutely after an incubation period of three to six days; symptoms include a fever that lasts three to five days, persistent headaches, pain associated with eye movements, and sharp pains in the gastrocnemius muscles and in the regions of the back and sacrum. The virus is present in the patient’s blood for only 24 to 36 hr after onset of illness.

Pappataci fever is widespread in regions with hot climates—Africa, Asia, America, and the Mediterranean coast of Europe. In the USSR, cases of the disease had been observed in the Crimea, Moldavia, Middle Asia, and the Caucasus. The disease has been eradicated as a result of radical measures to exterminate sandflies.

REFERENCE

Pavlovskii, E. N. Likhoradka papatachi i ee perenoschik. [Leningrad] 1947.

I. I. ELKIN