an epidemic disease, possibly typhus; a serious bodily fever
(see attestations)
yn ipan in metztli omoteneuh. yquac momonaco. matlaltotonqui. iuh quihtoque. yn tlamatinime yehuatl techhuicac yni ipan in xihuitl omoteneuh yn quitocayotia planeta Marte. huey citlalli. huel ihiyo. yn cocoliztica = The said month was when matlaltotonqui broke out. The wise men said that what they call the planet Mars, a great star, governed us in the aforementioned year; it is really its emanation with the epidemic (early seventeenth century, central New Spain)
matlaltotonqui = typhus
Hanns J. Prem questioned the translation of typhus, saying that the statement that death would set in after six or seven days would have been too soon for typhus. He further questions the equation of matlaltotonqui with the Spanish tabardillo.
iztac totonqui ("white fever"), matlaltotonqui ("green fever"), and atonahuiztli ("aquatic fever")
"les persiguen mil géneros de enfermedades, como son MATLALTOTONQUI, que es lo que decimos tabardete”, y llámanle así por las manchas que descubren en el cuerpo"