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beaver fever

beaver fever
 n.— «Pender said the water treatment plant will resolve long-standing complaints that residents have had with the quality of drinking water. In the early 1990s, the city’s supply was contaminated with giardia, a parasitic infection that attacks the digestive system and is often known as “beaver fever.”» —“Money flows for $36M Corner Brook water system” CBC News July 5, 2007. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)

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3 comments
  • Hello!

    I’m certainly no authority, but wanted to let you know that the term “beaver fever” has been used to describe Giardia Lamblia in creeks and streams in the Lincoln City, Oregon area for 20 years (that I know of).

  • Yes I know what your fourth grade teacher taught you about proper names,capitalization and made no exceptions.
    The exceptions are scientific names. The correct name and grammar for any genus and species is as exactly as follows: Giardia lambia. This is a tropical disease which seems to have made its way northward and is someting like Montezumas revenge.

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