lurgy

The Economist

Venezuela’s economic lurgy should sharpen Cuba’s eagerness for the remedy of reform. It seems to be dulling it

lurgy 

Pronunciation: /ˈləːɡi/ 

NOUN (plural lurgies)

British humorous

An unspecified or indeterminate illness:I had caught the dreaded lurgy

More example sentences

Origin

1950s (originally spelled lurgi): used in the British radio series The Goon Show and probably invented by its writers, though possibly from an English dialect term.