The Spanish girl caught the French fever (7)

I believe the answer is:

malaria

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'fever' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'the spanish girl caught the french' is the wordplay.
'the spanish girl' becomes 'maria' (I am not sure about the 'spanish' bit.).
'caught' indicates putting letters inside.
'the french' becomes 'la' ('the' in French).
'maria' placed around 'la' is 'MALARIA'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for malaria that I've seen before include "Tropical fever" , "Fever caused by mosquito" , "Disease from bites by infected mosquitos" , "Disease spread by mosquito bites" , "Mosquito-transmitted disease" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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