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Mal de caderas

a disease of horses in some south American countries caused by the protozoan parasite Trypanosoma equinum and manifested by emaciation, remittent fever, weakness (especially of the hindquarters, from which the disease gets its name), and eventually death; the trypanosome has a reservoir in the giant rodent, the capybara; cattle, sheep, and goats are only mildly affected; humans are not susceptible.