American Fever (Fiebre Americana) is a recurring disease that struck the Quartier de Saint-Germain in Paris in 1648, during the parliamentary Fronda. It is a prolonged, exhausting illness that kept the sick in bed for weeks and left survivors weakened for months.
| Type | Event |
| Date | 1648 |
| Place | Quartier de Saint-Germain-des-Prés |
| Spanish entry | Fiebre Americana |
Cases
- Marcel was struck in the earliest documented stages.
- Madeline Boulet convalesced for more than a month. The illness and the defenselessness it left led her to the shelter of the convent of the Filles de Dieu.
Origin
The name points toward Atlantic trade and the ports of the Mediterranean: something brought from afar, possibly by the ships linking Cádiz with the American coasts and spreading their miasmas along the inland routes of France.
The fever is recorded as a recurring event rather than a single epidemic: it returns and threatens again.