 [ Symptoms ] what are viral hemorrhagic fevers [ Disease ] viral hemorrhagic fevers refer to a group of illnesses that are caused by several distinct families of viruses in general the term viral hemorrhagic fever is used to describe a severe multisystem syndrome multisystem in that multiple organ systems in the body are affected characteristically the overall vascular system is damaged and the body is ability to regulate itself is impaired these symptoms are often accompanied by hemorrhage bleeding however the bleeding is itself rarely life threatening while some types of hemorrhagic fever viruses can cause relatively mild illnesses many of these viruses cause severe life threatening disease