Daily AncestorBreakbone fever
Breakbone fever was dengue fever, a mosquito-borne illness named for the severe muscle and joint pain that made victims feel their bones were breaking.
Dengue is spread by mosquitoes in warm climates. It brings high fever, headache, rash and intense aching, and most people recover within a week, though a small share develop a severe, dangerous form.
In American records breakbone fever turns up mostly in warm Southern places during hot-weather outbreaks. It killed far fewer people than yellow fever, another mosquito-borne fever.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Rosa Diaz, 30, F, W, Sept., Break bone fever
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Daily Ancestor. "Breakbone fever." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/breakbone-fever. Last checked 2026-10-01.