Brill-Zinsser disease /bril″zin″sər/ [Nathan E. Brill, American physician, 1860–1925; Hans Zinsser, American bacteriologist, 1878–1940] , a mild form of epidemic typhus that recurs in a person who appears to have completely recovered from a severe case of the disease years earlier. Some rickettsiae remain in the body after the symptoms of the disease abate, causing the recurrence of symptoms, especially when stress, illness, or malnutrition weakens the person. Treatment with antibiotics may eradicate the organism. See also epidemic typhus, murine typhus, rickettsiosis, typhus.
