Puerperal fever was previously unknown in Aberdeen and the epidemic was thought to be no more than the common ephemeral fever known as the 'Weed', which was rarely fatal.

It was however shown that apoptosis could be blocked by the caspase inhibitor (Z-VAD-fmk), indicating that bovine ephemeral fever virus induces caspase-dependent apoptosis in cultured cells.

Bovine ephemeral fever (BEF) also known as Three Day Sickness is an arthropod vector-borne disease of cattle and is caused by the Ephemerovirus virus of the Rhabdoviridae family of virus.