epidemic typhus

Epidemic typhus has also been called camp fever, jail fever, and war fever, names that suggest overcrowding, poor sanitation, and generally unhygienic living conditions. It is caused by the bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii and is conveyed from person to person by the body louse, Pediculus humanus…

Outbreaks of epidemic typhus, known as “jail fever,” occasionally killed not only prisoners but also jailers and (more rarely) judges and lawyers involved in trials. The modern prison developed in the late 18th century in part as a reaction to the conditions of the local jails of…