Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US gambling) the point of five in craps dice; a $5.00 bill.

1898		‘The Game of Craps’ in Current Lit. XIII:6 558/2: Nearly every point on the dice is named. [...] five is called ‘Phoebe’ or ‘fever’.
1920		Capt. Billy’s Whiz Bang Oct. 24: I indulged in a friendly game of dancing dominoes last night with my old buddy, Mr. ‘Eighter from Decatur.’ ‘Jimmy Hicks’ and ’Long Legged Liz’ were there, but before I got through I had ‘fever in the South’ and ‘crapped’ out.
1921		Truth (Brisbane) 13 Nov. 9/4: In the language of the [craps] players [...] five is ‘feveer from the south’.
1937		Wash. Post 3 Oct. B8/6: [...] Five is either ‘Fever’ or ‘Phoebe,’ and an eight is an ‘Eighter from Decatur.’.
1958		Hughes & Bontemps Book of Negro Folklore 202: 5 – fever.
1973		C. Himes ‘Baby Sister’ [screenplay] in Black on Black 104: STICK MAN: Five in the circle! A fever!
2002		‘The Lang. of Craps’ CasinoTips.org 🌐 FIVE: ‘After five, the field’s alive,’ ‘thirty-two juice roll’ (OJ’s jersey number), ‘little Phoebe,’ ‘fiver, fiver, racetrack driver,’ ‘we got the fever.’.
2004		‘Animated Dominoes, Dice’ at Old and Sold 🌐 Some of the best-known nicknames in dice are: [...] Fever, Fever in the South (and no doctor): total of five.

2. (US prison) a five-year sentence.

1976

Edwardsville Intelligencer (IL) 30 Mar. 2/2: A five year term, aside from a ‘fever’ is known as a ‘fin.’.